As (arguably) the foremost philosopher of our generation once noted “it’s Friday, Friday” and I couldn’t agree more. Say what you will about Rebecca Black, today she was spot on (and with 77+ million views on youtube, she’s proven she’s worth listening to).
Team primary met in the crisp 7°C of 8am to bring together an extra 15 minutes of content for Friday’s longer assemblies. We taught the same great message about the rescue at Easter (same great beachballs), but this time Captain Memory Verse joined the team and helped a few hundred kids memorise John 3:16. The energy was high from the K-6 members of Tamworth South Public and the hall was filled to capacity, but there was a bittersweetness as we came to the end of our assemblies together.
In our early afternoon meeting Rod’s assistant minister Xavier shared with us his experiences of mission work (14 years in France) and his philosophy of mission. He encouraged us towards long term investments in mission work (10+ years), and spoke candidly about the difficulties and discouragements of leaving your cultural comfort zone. The team have been very appreciative of both Xavier and Rod as they share with us ‘not only the gospel of God but [their] lives as well’.
Then in the evening, the local Anglican youth groups combined for The Amazing gRace. A couple of hundred kids gathered for some games and to hear Bishop Rick Lewers speak about God’s amazing grace. Our very own Kylie read the scriptures, and Tom Batty shared about the work God has done in his life to save and change him. Weeksy miraculously pulled together a recap video of the night before it was over, and some servant hearted souls were all-hands-on-deck to prepare supper and clean up.
And as the weekend begins and the end of mission is in sight, in one sense it’s nice to think that we’ll be home soon. Getting back to our friends and family, our own beds, in our own homes, with a couple of rest days to recover. But in another sense maybe we agree with Rebecca when she sings “Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards. I don’t want this weekend to end” (you certainly can’t fault her chronological precision when it comes to the days of the week). But through the fatigue of seven days on mission in Tamworth there is also a deep joy in this gospel work we are doing together. And it’s that joy which makes the end of mission both imminent yet almost somehow seem intrusive.
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