October 2006

Welcome to Cafe Towns!

This is our first edition being read via our new blog site. (I've also posted our previous newsletters for the record.) How exciting!

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:2-3).

It's an amazing thought that everything we need for life and godliness has been given us by God through our knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Everything! We have it all in him, already. And that must mean we don't need anything that we don't already have in him. I find that so encouraging.

FAMILY NEWS

There's been so much happening, it's hard to know where to begin (which is probably why September's newsletter is being written in October!)

The move
It began when we saw in the Saturday paper a roomy 3bm unit with little yard and nice deck, going for $170pw! We knew we needed to move cause our lease was running out and the rent was going up. Plus Elijah needed somewhere to run around. And this place was perfect. Well, to cut a short story even shorter, by the following Wednesday we were sleeping in our new home! People say Joe 'moves' quickly, but this one even surprised us! We don't have a photo yet but hopefully you've received our new details by email. If not, let us know!

The family

We're all really enjoying our new place. Elijah's favourite spot is the back deck where he can kick around his soccer balls (he has more than one). (We like it as well cause the balcony's quite safe and he can't go anywhere). Other than reading picture books Elijah spends most of his time at the moment kicking balls. Cath's favourite stop is sitting in the lovely afternoon sun out the front. Joe's favourite place is the veggie patch cause he's always wanted to be able to grow more than just herbs. We also all enjoy living a few minutes walk from the beach. It's great to all get on a bike (we have a baby seat) and roll down to the water for a bbq in the early evening, now that daylight savings has kicked in.

If you'd like to hear more about Elijah, visit www.lijibeau.blogspot.com!

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS

Joe's final 'Sermons in Acts' in September went particularly well. He preached Peter's sermon to Cornelius' household from Acts 10 (The Unexpected Gospel - 'good' people need saving) and Paul's sermon to the Athenians from Acts 17 (The Unknown Gospel - 'smart' people need saving). The talks will be up on the web soon if you're interested (http://www.focusutas.org/talks/).

Breaking the ICE (Inter-Cultural Evangelism)

A highlight for Joe has been taking 10 plus students through a training course he's written on Inter-Cultural Evangelism called "Breaking the ICE." It's about understanding cultures and learning to communicate the gospel accordingly. The final week was an 'inter-cultural conversation meeting' where guests from China, Korea, Malaysia and Japan were invited along to share with us what they thought local Aussie students need to learn about Asian culture. It was really lively!

Issues for Internationals

At IBM we are finishing up the Semester with a short 3-week bible series called "Issues for Internationals," looking at the specific challenges posed to international Christians by their home cultures in relation to idolatry, persecution and cults. The studies in Acts involve lots of discussion and applications aimed at preparing Christians to return to their home countries.


Finishing Up

Joe is also presently organising the The FOCUS Wrap-Up Party and a FOCUS DVD to be sent out to you soon, along with our supporting churches. (Both these are replacing the FOCUS Report and Support Night of previous years). Their purpose is to give thanks to God for his work amongst us at the Uni during 2006, and to say a big thank you to all of our many supporters (that's YOU) who - through prayer and financial giving - have enabled us to do this work.


JOB HUNTING

Joe's ministry apprenticeship is finishing this month, in line with the end of the University Semester. As I'm sure you can imagine, this means applying for jobs and sitting interviews as they come. With this has come the renewed temptation to think that what we need for our lives, is not just our knowledge of the Lord, but all these other things as well... you know, all the things we feel like we need... all the things the world tells us that we need... like impressiveness - success and status. Praise God that "his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him!" It's such a good reminder to us, because the truth is that we have everything we need already in Christ, and it's not any of that stuff. We can be content in Him.

"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction... But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1 Timothy 6:9, 11).

The challenge to pursue godliness at the expense of worldliness like materialism is something that we're really praying God will help us do at the moment while we make choices about career paths. We really want to transition into some type of work that allows us to continue being involved in ministry here in Hobart.

On-going support

I'll be ceasing work with AFES on October 29th. It's imortant to realise that financial support will continue to be debited until the National Office recieves written notice to cease that support or to transfer it to another area/staffworker. We said in our June Newsletter, "It will be a great help to the finances of AFES Tasmania if those of you who are able to continue supporting me financially do so for the remainder of the 2 year period of my MTS..."

There's three options, that I can think of:

1. You can continue to support me for a time to reduce the deficit I've left for AFES Tasmania, and I will notify you when this is completed. To do this, you just need to continue your giving.
2. You can transfer your support to another staffworker (such as Sam Green, or Damon Richardson and Mike Jolly, who are beginning their MTS with FOCUS in 2007). You can do this simply by emailing accounts@afes.org.au. (Or contacting AFES National Office, PO Box 684, Kingsford NSW 2032, ph. 02 9697 0313, fax 02 9697 9265.)
3. You may wish to stop your financial support to AFES. Again, you can do this by emailing accounts@afes.org.au.

Thank you again (!!!) for all your on-going support. Because of it, Joe's been able to spend 2 uni-years teaching God's Word to students from all over the world!

OUR DAILY PRAYER

This reminds me of a really cool Proverb I read not long ago:

"Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much
and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God."
(Proverbs 30:7-9)

What a prayer! It's given me a renewed commitment to praying as the Lord himself taught us to pray, "give us today our daily bread." I've printed it out and stuck it on the back of our toilet door, so that I'm at least praying it daily...

We'd love to hear from you. We'll be writing again soon.

Lots and lots of love, the Townsies.

June 2006

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

The Apostle Paul's words in the quotes above are amazing! They reveal the height of the Christian hope, a hope that has encouraged millions down through the centuries to persevere in faith and love in the midst of the most difficult times. This is my continual source of encouragement, and I pray it will be yours also: Christ suffered and then entered glory, and in him we are on that same road to glory. And though the road is rough, the destination is certain (Romans 8:30). We don't see our glory now; we see trouble and suffering. And yet our troubles are temporary, but our glory is eternal. That's why we need to live by faith, not by sight. Faith is being sure of our hope of glory.

NEWS

It's been a difficult and rewarding past few months for our family. It's been unusually difficult because added to the challenge of ministry and parenting, Cath began her final 8-week teaching practicum as part of her 4th year as an Education student. During this period we went through the sadness of a miscarriage. And this has come at a time when we are both feeling a degree of anxiety because of the decisions we are making in relation to our future training in ministry. In all of this we have been trusting in God. We are so thankful to him for everything. Cath will finish her prac in a few weeks, and God has enabled us to make decisions that we know will glorify him as we continue to walk by faith, not by sight.

However, the past few months have also been especially rewarding. Elijah began walking a few weeks before his first birthday. And in the difficulties God's caused us to renew our commitment to the priority of our relationship with him and eachother above our plans and situation. And because of this I'm rejoicing. In addition the ministry at FOCUS has continued to be particularly fruitful in the second half of Semester One: Our evangelistic efforts in the recent “Convinced by Da Vinci?” mission were the most successful in FOCUS' history at attracting large numbers to public talks. Also, one of our international students at IBM became a Christian at our last meeting of Semester. And because of this we're praising God.

HIGHLIGHT

Definitely the highlight for me in ministry is seeing God bring people to faith in himself. One of the Chinese blokes I've been trying to read the Bible with since he became a Christian at the end of last year, Sam Wang, has been praying for his girlfriend, Doris, to become a Christian. Many of us at IBM have been praying for her, and trying to bring her in love to understand the gospel.

On the last Friday night meeting of the Semester she decided to come along to IBM with Sam because she had been thinking seriously about becoming a Christian. We had finished John's gospel, and by way of follow up were studing Acts 1-2, with the final study looking at the conclusions of Peter's Sermon. At the end of the study we asked people if they wanted to become Christians. And by God's grace, that is exacly what Doris had decided!

COMING UP

Cath and I have just come back from a short but very needed and enjoyable holiday. With less than 4 weeks before FOCUS' Mid-Year Conference, Sam Green and myself are now putting most of our energy into organising and preparing for MYC and Semester 2. I hope the Prayer Diary is helping you know how you can be supporting us in prayer week by week. Let me know if you want more copies of this.

Further on the horizon, Cath and I have made a number of significant decisions about next year and beyond. The last year and a half of MTS has progressively shown Cath she's not yet ready for me to continue heading into full-time Christian leadership. Although my MTS has been fruitful and rewarding, we've realised that what she needs in particular is time to prepare herself for this commitment, and I understand that. And so while I'm going to enjoy continuing in my present ministry under Sam Green, I'm deciding not to, at this stage, undergo further ministry training until we both feel ready for me to commit to Christian leadership. I plan to continue helping in the work of FOCUS until October, when Semester 2 finishes, when (God permitting) I'll start someother type of full-time work.

SUPPORT

Once again, thank you immensely for all your support: by encouraging us, by praying for us, by your gifts, by giving to AFES who pay us, by serving the work of the gospel along side us. And we ask that you continue supporting us so that we can finish what we have undertaken.

It will be a great help to the finances of AFES Tasmania if those of you who are able do continue supporting me financially for the remainder of the 2 year period of my MTS.

I plan to take myself off the payroll when I commence other paid work in October-November. Continued giving to AFES beyond this point will help towards recovering the debt that I have created for them, who have given me a full MTS wage, even though – up to the present date – I have been unable to raise the entirety of my income from personal supporters.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

What a joy it is to know that in the many different kinds of trials we face as Christians, God is at work bringing us to maturity in him. That's why we know God will always keep us persevering in our work produced by faith, our labor prompted by love, and our endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th1:3). And we pray that you will also.

WITH LOVE – Joe, Cath and Elijah Beau.

March 2006

Cath and I have had a wonderful start to the year. We are settling into Crossroads (our new church) well and are really enjoying the fellowship that has brought. FOCUS has kicked off for another year at a tremendous pace. Our welcome bbqs had record numbers and we are now busy following up the new contacts. Elijah provides us with constant entertainment. He is now crawling and walking around furniture.

PHOTOS: TOP LEFT = Making coffee with Dad, TOP RIGHT = Reading at Eagle Hawk Neck, BOTTOM LEFT = On holiday at Maria Island, BOTTOM RIGHT = Painting.

News
Some of you will know that the leaders of iChurch have joined Crossroads Preybyterian Church, and this ministry has become part of FOCUS at the uni. This has been an excellent move. Now known as "FOCUS International Bible Meetings" (IBM), we have started the year with renewed enthusiasm and help. We made 20 new contacts at our welcome bbq a fortnight ago, and our first meeting (Fridays, 5:30pm) last week went really well. Please keep praying for us.

Support
I have included sent you a number of resources that I produced over the university break. The "Support FOCUS" booklet is written to encourage current as well as potential supporters. I hope you'll find it helpful. You can download the support brochure [PDF] (1.2MB) from our website. You'll also have received the FOCUS Prayer Diary that I wrote in this period. Because of this I won't need to give you a list of prayer points at the end of this letter! :-) You can also download the FOCUS Prayer Diary [PDF] (155KB) from our website.

Thank you for all your continued love, prayers and financial support. Please keep us up to date with all your news and needs so we can support you also.

With all our love - Joe, Cath & Elijah Towns.

December 2005

August 2005

For a change of flavour – like a smooth latte with a dash of raw sugar – I, being Cath, am writing this edition of café towns. So…here goes.

family update
Elijah is now 10 weeks old. He is a beautiful boy with his Father’s good looks and big brown eyes. He seems to be enjoying life and even joined us in his high chair (propped up with lots of cushions) for dinner tonight. Our first family dinner. By the end of it he was asleep.

I’m still continuing with uni (4 assignments left till the end of semester!) and I’m also attending my old primary school for 1 ½ days a week. God has really answered my prayers in giving me both mental and physical energy to continue this with Elijah. He has also provided for us in that I am now paid for 4 hours of my work at the school, which will really help us financially.

Joe doesn’t get a lot of time to relax in between Focus and iChurch. But, when he does he has got his head in a book. He is enjoying reading a few short novels lately – in an effort to extend his repertoire and right brainedness (is that a word?).

focus update
I try to get along to FOCUS for the Wednesday meetings. It has been so encouraging for me to be part of it this year – it really is a unique opportunity to receive such great Bible teaching mid-week.

In early July we had the Mid-Year Conference. About forty-five uni students came along for a week of hard work studying God’s Word and what it reveals about ‘The Kingdom of God.’ It was my aim to make it to the seminars and talks each day. I managed to do this and can confidently say that my head has never been so immersed in the Bible in one week ever in my life. Admittedly, by the end I was exhausted. But I came away with a desire to study God’s Word more. I was particularly excited to find many sections of the Old Testament I had often misunderstood or not understood at all were made clear. The Lord really worked in my heart and through conversations with others I know he worked in their hearts too, to teach us just how essential it is to understand the author of the Bible and the examples he has set down in his Word as to what the Kingdom of God is all about.

Last week FOCUS was busy organising a mission on ‘The DaVinci Code.’ If you haven’t heard of it, this is a secular book that is very popular around the world at the moment. It claims to be fictional, but based on fact and has gathered quite a following for its portrayal of Jesus Christ and the Church. Our prayers that it would attract the attention of students were answered: about 12 new people (not Christian) came along and were challenged to investigate Christianity further. Joe followed this up this week with a talk called 'Jesus for skeptics', and is hoping to give out many pamphlets on this topic in the coming weeks. Please pray that Christians in FOCUS would be motivated to talk to their friends who are skeptics with their new understanding.

iChurch update
Our new home groups are going well so far. We have had 11 international students attending our group and are getting to know them all much better. We are hoping to take a few individuals through a series of studies that explains the gospel beginning next week in the hope that many of them put their trust in Jesus. Please pray for us as we begin this, that we would share the gospel message faithfully and truthfully not missing out or glossing over anything.

And praise God! We have two new sisters in Christ at iChurch – Yoyo and Icecream, both from China. You're probably laughing, but we get used to funny names. They became Christians a few weeks ago in Damon and Tineke’s group. Please pray for their continued growth as a Christians.

At the end of August we are having an iChurch Bible Camp. Please pray for the 3 leaders of iChurch as they prepare talks and studies for this event and also pray that our International Students would be able to come.

We are truly grateful for your support both financially but more importantly prayerfully.

Thank you and God bless,
The Towns Trio.

Ps. a message from Joe:

I need to raise an extra $200 per month to do the work I am doing with FOCUS at the University. This is only $50 per week. Can you contribute towards this ($10, $20 or $30 per week)? This may not seem like a lot of money, but I really need it if I'm to continue with this work. If you can help, please use the attached form, which can also be downloaded from http://www.afes.org.au/support.html

Prayer and Thanksgiving
1 Thank God for blessing our lives with Elijah.
2 Thank God for giving Cath energy to continue in her studies and school practicum and also for the pay she is being given.
3 Thank God for the success of FOCUS' Mid Year Conference, the 'Convinced by Da Vinci?' mission, followed by the 'Jesus for skeptics' talk.
4 Thank God for the Chinese girls who have become Christians at iChurch.
5 Pray Joe would have the energy to maintain all that he is doing for FOCUS and iChurch.
6 Pray that Christians at FOCUS will reach out to their friends who are not Christians, and that God brings genuine skeptics to believe in Jesus.
7 Pray for Joe’s preparation for his Resurrection, Ecclesiastes and Jonah talks/studies coming up.
8 Pray for good follow-up of people who have recently become Christians at iChurch, and for ongoing evangelism of those who have not yet believed.

June 2005

This is a special addition of Cafe Towns in light of our exciting baby news. I've wondered whether the 'cafe' title is any longer appropriate due to the recent transformation of our cafe lifestyle into that of a nursery. But rest assured, I've been drinking plenty of good coffee and am already making a return to the 'catch-up' culture that I enjoy.

Baby News
Elijah Beau, born 6th June 2005 at the Royal Hobart Hospital, weighing 3620g

Like us, you probably got sick of waiting. Ten days past our due date we went into the Royal Hobart Hospital, because whether he liked it or not, it was time for our baby to be born! That was a Sunday night, 5th of June. Elijah Beau was born the following afternoon. And now all this time later - after induction, labour, birth and all that immediately followed - two things are clear to me: God is amazing, and Cath is very brave. Even more than being a proud father, I'm a proud husband!

Elijah emerged into this world with eyes wide open and a quiet frown on his face. Surprisingly, the only crying in the room was done by myself and Cath, and they were tears of joy. It looked instantly like we had a boy, but I just had to check. Sure enough, we had a son! As soon as I announced his name to Cath, a huge smile came over her face. "I knew it!" she said with a teary grin.

Cath came down with a very high fever not a week after birth. Another trip to the hospital and a lot of antibiotics later, she has slowly regained her strength. The support we've received from family and friends has been overwhelmingly wonderful and greatly appreciated.

We're now back in the comfort of home and are enjoying this precious time. "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him" (Ps 127:3). We give glory to God our Father, who alone gives life and does all things so that we might fear Him. Praise Him for His kindness to us in response to your prayers and ours.

As you may imagine we've taken a ridiculous amount of photos. I've downsized a few and put them in a Word attachment to make viewing nice and quick. There are a few family members who are saying Elijah doesn't look a bit like me, but that most of his features are from Cath's side. It'd be fun to hear what you think. Maybe you can give me some points of defense.

FOCUS
Fellowship Of Christian University Students

Praise God for an excellent Semester of ministry to uni students through FOCUS. One buzz point was being able to personally give away over 100 copies of Mark's Gospel while doing stranger evangelism. Please pray for the non-Christians I've met, that the exam period wouldn’t kill their enthusiasm to meet up with me next Semester.

Mid-Year Conference (MYC) is fast approaching (July 4-8), so please pray that many students will come and truly understand the Kingdom of God. May growing God's kingdom become their entire life-orientation. Please pray that I can encourage students about this at MYC.


I also need God's help with the writing I'm doing over the uni break: (1) the evangelistic pamphlets I'm designing for use in specific pockets of the uni (E.g. Uni Bar, Med. Faculty, English Learning Centre, Law faculty etc); (2) the workshop I'll run at MYC ("The Gospel Driven Life", which will include a book review of Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life); (3) the discipleship program I'll put together to suit the short and dynamic nature of one-to-one ministry I do.

Please ask for God's help to reach the goals I have for next Semester: (1) More people doing small (3 to 1) bible studies with staff-members (Sam, Debbie and myself); (2) starting a prayer meeting for Christian students on campus; (3) a new outreach to Japanese students at the English Learning Centre; (4) More FOCUS committee members involved with stranger evangelism.

iChurch
Church for Internationals

God has graciously sustained iChurch over the uni exam season, while most of our congregation were stressed with excessive study. Thank Him that he has continued to gather our people around His Word (we have just finished a series in 1 Corinthians, and are starting one from Deuteronomy). And pray that God would continue to do this, and even more so now that most of our people have plenty of time on uni holidays. Pray this so that our local leaders and internationals would be built up in Him and bound together in love.

In particular, our Bible Study meetings will move from the Chaplaincy Centre to the homes of our different leaders. There will be 3 groups, and they'll be starting in the 1st week of Semester 2 (July 11-15th). Please pray that this would happen smoothly so that more of our church can be cared for and more room made for growth.

We are also planning an iChurch Bible Camp for September 2-4th on The Resurrection. We are praying that this will be a turning-point weekend for our Christians, that their minds open right up to the life-changing heart of the gospel.

'See the Day approaching'
(Hebrews 10:25)

As you may be able to imagine, I'm typing away in our study/baby room, Cath's getting our place ready for some visitors to pop round, and Elijah's caught up in a whirlwind...I mean a dream. So much has happened in the last two weeks, and yet very little has actually changed. The birth pains have ceased for Cath (thankfully!!!) and we have a new and very welcomed addition to our family. But the birth pains of this world continue (cf. Mk 13:8). Our baby has arrived, but there is another arrival that the whole of creation is still groaning for: the appearing of our Lord Jesus from glorious heaven. And we live in the last hour of the last days, at a time in history so pregnant with expectation that the signs of this coming are all around us.

And that's why we must never stop getting ready for that Day. Our prayer for you is that you will never stop. For the blood of Jesus has given us a new and living way to God. So 'let us draw near to God...Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess...Let us consider how we may spur one another on...Let us not give up meeting together...but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching' (Hebrews 10:22-25). Don't get sick of waiting!

WITH LOVE, HOPE AND FAITH IN CHRIST,
JOE, CATH & ELI

Ps. if you’d like to find out how you can support us financially in our ministry, please let me know and I’ll send you a ‘financial support form’. Cheers.

May 2005

“How deep the Father’s love for us! How vast beyond all measure!” These lyrics are so true. A series we did recently at iChurch on ‘The Cross’ was a wonderful reminder of this. For it’s the Cross that gives us assurance of God’s love for us, beyond all question. May we keep Christ’s work as the very central focus of all that we do.

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified”(1 Corinthians 2:2)

In this letter I’ll try to fill you in a little on what we’re doing now in our new roles. I’m sorry I haven’t written earlier. I intended to send this edition in March!

CATH’S NEWS
The pictures of Cath were taken over a month ago. She’s now 3 weeks from her due date! Please thank God that Cath is doing really well, and the baby is healthy and very active. She is delighted to be home in Hobart with her family and close friends.
Cath’s quite busy because she’s continuing to study her education degree by correspondence. She’s enjoying coming to the FOCUS talks each week, seeing what I am up to around the uni, and catching up with lots of girls.
She’s also very happy to finally be in a unit, which is right next to the university (2 bedrooms!). This was our 4th move in the last 3 months, and it’s nice to feel like we’ll be staying put for a while. Cath is enjoying setting up our nursery.

JOE’S NEWS
I’m also doing really well. I’ve fitted back into the Hobart scene quite easily, although I do miss our friends in Sydney and the lifestyle there. Work at the Uni as an MTS Apprentice is really great. It has brought adjustments, which I’ve been coming to terms with reasonably quickly. After my days as a student, and then work as a teacher, I’m very addicted to timetables. One of the first things I did when I started work for FOCUS was to decide how I wanted to use my time, and then went about filling up my own custom made timetable! This helps me operate efficiently.
It also helps having an office at the Chaplaincy Centre on Campus. David Jones got me a desk and a computer there because he is the Presbyterian Chaplain. However he has very limited time to come into the Uni, so he’s glad to have me making the most of that facility and the resources that come with it.

FOCUS
Please thank God that we have made an excellent start to the year at FOCUS. Under Sam Green’s leadership we were able to get in contact with many first years. At this stage there are a group of about 60 students who come to our weekly main meetings. All up we’re trying to work with around 150 students from a very diverse range of church backgrounds, which is exciting.
One of the biggest highlights for me is the amount of evangelism that I’ve been able to do. At the moment I’m spending half a day each week doing stranger evangelism around the uni, but soon I hope to increase this to one day a week. There are about 5 other Christian students who help me each week with this. Please pray that this number also increases and that people come into God’s kingdom.
I also spend significant time meeting one-to-one with people each week. I’m trying to disciple 8 blokes through reading the Bible and praying together, getting them involved with evangelism and leading Bible studies on Campus. One of them is from Japan and he is not a Christian. I met him when doing stranger evangelism. Please pray that as he comes to understand the gospel he will put his faith in Jesus.
One of the Bible study groups I lead is called MCG (Medical Christian Group). We’ve had weekly Bible studies as well as social and evangelistic activities at the Med. Faculty. There are now about 6-8 regulars, and with God’s help we’re still trying to establish relationships with 12-14 others that we met in the first week of Semester.

iCHURCH
As you know, Cath and I are both involved with a local church for internationals called iChurch. We help lead public meetings on Sundays that consist of a talk, singing, and discussion over lunch. I’ve given one talk on the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-26) in the series on the Cross I mentioned earlier, and 4 talks from Ecclesiastes. (I gave two of these talks at FOCUS recently). We also help lead bible studies on Thursday nights at the Chaplaincy where we all share a meal together and then break off into 3 bible study groups.
iChurch has a group of very committed leaders, but the work is hard. People attend very irregularly, and most of them are still developing their English. New people are coming and going all the time. Our congregation is made up of mostly Chinese and Korean students, with a few from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Columbia and Australia. Thank God for bringing 2 of our Chinese students to faith in Jesus. Please pray that God helps our church to grow with regular and committed Christians and provides more leaders.

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38)

COMING UP
Our baby is due on the 26th of May, so please keep praying for a safe arrival and that we will transition well into our new roles as parents.
The Mid-Year Conference this year for FOCUS will be on ‘The Kingdom of God’. I will be running an elective on ‘Preaching the Kingdom’. To understand the Kingdom is to understand the whole Bible, so please ask for God’s help with this. Please pray also that Cath and I will be able to make it to this, along with many others, as it will be very soon after the arrival of our bubs, God willing.

SUPPORT
Thanks so much for the support that you’ve shown us. I hope you can see how much we can thank God for, especially since we have been able to make a good start to the year through the generosity of so many. Please pray that God will continue to provide for us through the giving of others. At this stage we do need more financial support so that we can not only finish this year, but also continue during 2006.
If there’s someone who you know who would like to receive this newsletter, please let me know.

GRACE AND PEACE BE YOURS
Thanks for all of your prayers, Joe & Cath

December 2004

Welcome to the first edition of Café Towns – our regular supporter’s newsletter.


Why the name?
Well, Joe does love to sip the crème off a smooth espresso at any time. But Cath on the other hand would rather munch through a block of Cadbury’s. The real reason is that we’d love to be with you in person, and talk in the usual way; you know… in a café over a pot of tea if that’s what you prefer.


But because we can’t always do that, this newsletter will fill you in until our next catch-up! Because this is our very first edition we will be sharing an overview from our early beginnings, through to our plans for the future.
We hope that this will highlight areas that you might pray for us, as well as testify to the sovereign grace of God at work in our lives and ministry.

IN THE BEGINNING…

Having grown up in Hobart, I became a Christian before my teens when convicted about the reality of personal guilt before God. The great message of God’s forgiveness in Jesus has motivated me ever since to give all of my life for the cause of the gospel.
Cath came to understand the gospel fully as a teenager when led by a close friend through the first five chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans.

“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God which is at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY

We both met at Hobart Christian Life Centre , which is led by Kevin Towns, my father. Here we did our best to serve God for many years with the word of God as we lead Bible studies and youth groups up until the time we were married.

UNI DAYS

During a Science degree at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) I was challenged under the Bible teaching of Sam Green at FOCUS . I realised the importance of better training himself for gospel work. After completing a Diploma of Education, I married Cath, and together we moved to Sydney to work towards Bible College training.

SYDNEY SLICKERS

I took a position as a secondary Science teacher at a Christian school where Cath has also worked for 3 years. We joined St Paul’s Anglican Church Carlingford, a large church-planting group in Sydney’s Northwest, where Sam Green originally grew up. After one year we helped start a church at Macquarie University in Sydney’s North: Mars Hill Anglican Church. There we have been teaching the Bible in small groups and leading a team reaching out to international students from the university.

“All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood…” (Colossians 1:6)

FAMILY PLANNING

In September this year we were overjoyed with the news that, God willing, we would soon have our first child! Our baby is due in June 2005. Praise God!!!

HOMEWARD BOUND

We are now returning to Hobart in January for 2 years where I plan to undergo a MTS apprenticeship with Sam Green at the University of Tasmania.

MINISTRY TRAINING

The essence of the apprenticeship is not formal instruction, but on-the-job training based on practical ministry and active participation. This year over 200 apprentices will be trained in the two-year program in 80 churches or campuses.
Sam himself originally did a MTS in Sydney. He is now employed by AFES as a full-time Christian student worker. He heads up all the evangelism, discipleship and training at UTAS. As my trainer part of his ministry will be to develop my skills so that I am more thoroughly equipped for ministry.

LOCAL CHURCH

We are also excited about joining International Students Community Church in Hobart (iChurch), where I hope to provide encouragement to the leaders and Christians there.

“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message… Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” (Colossians 4:3-4)

BIBLE TRAINING

In 2007 we plan to return to Sydney as a small family (God willing) to continue training at Moore Theological College for a lifetime of Bible teaching ministry.

BEYOND COLLEGE

We are praying that after Bible training God would enable us to return and provide ongoing help to the growth of the gospel in Hobart, Tasmania and beyond.

SUPPORT

We are asking for your support in our ministry training. Here is how you can do this, both now and in the future:

1. Pray for us

We need your prayer above all things. Pray that God will help us to grow in godliness as we take on full-time paid gospel work, and as we get ready to start parenthood.

2. Give financially

I have given up other paid work to do gospel work and training fulltime. We are trusting God to provide financial support through the generosity of the Christian community around us. If you believe in the value of our training, and want to free me up from other work so that I can train and help to spread the gospel in Hobart then please support us financially. Please find the forms necessary for you to do this included with this newsletter.

3. Come to our supporters afternoon tea

We are organising an afternoon tea to meet with those that want to support us from Hobart. We will be sending out details about this soon.

4. Write to us

Conversations are two way, whether in a café or by letter. We’d love to find out how you are, and how we can support you in your plans to serve God. Please write to us and tell us what things we should pray for your life, family and ministry.

PLEASE REPLY

Attached is a slip that you can return to us in the stamped envelope that you should have received with this newsletter. Please do this because it will tell me (among other things) if you would like to continue receiving this newsletter.


Thanks for reading our first edition of Café Towns – we hope you have enjoyed it!

Your brother in Christ, Joe