As time goes by, God is faithful

Yesterday I had the opportunity to greet applicants for graduate positions at KPMG as they were getting ready for a first round interview.

It was a moment that let me think back two years to where I was up to the first time I walked into the KPMG office.

I was a little bit arrogant, assuming to some extent that I had what it took to get a job wherever one was offered.  There were just so many interviews, and things were going pretty well.  Those companies that hadn't offered me an interview obviously didn't realise what they were missing out on.

But there were other things too.  At the time I was just about to join up with perhaps the most formidable Metrogaine team ("Team Top-gun") and blitz our way through the Eastern Suburbs and city in what was very fast time, showing off our athletic prowess at every contested activity.

Along with that I had a really stressed (well she had a big exam and a big workload), but wonderful girlfriend, who I probably took for granted, and found occasionally hard to relate to.

They were good times at church too.  We were just starting a youth group, including dinner for the year 11 and year 12 people beforehand, and I spent a lot of time just hanging out with some wonderful people who now get to step up and lead.  I had just been elected to Synod by church, and was teaching upper primary and early high school Sunday School. 

At Uni, I was meeting up regularly with this young law student, and we read 1 Corinthians together, and I was occasionally trying to encourage one of my older friends who had recently become a Christian, and tearing my hair out at the change in attitude of another friend who went from very keen to very cold after a summer overseas.  I was studying smarter than I had in previous years too, and I found I really liked Media Law and Public Law, but couldn't get my head around Patents.  Legal Research was fun too, and fairly early in the course. 

I signed up to the Emerald Green, which was a great move, and it gave me the social opportunities I needed when just living in my small church environment. 

I was also just about to finish my PTC.

There were times in 2006 when things seemed silly and pointless.  As there have been times like that in 2007, and in 2008 (and 2005 and 2004 and all the years before them).  At times some of those events really caught me out, hurt me emotionally and made me wonder why I bothered anymore.  But God never gives us things on a platter.  He just uses our feeble efforts, in ways we could never imagine, and brings great joy to our hearts.

Feeling a bit like a tourist, wanting to feel like a missionary

Deciding I wanted to have a week to do a sightseeing holiday (in Japan) at the end of my trip to Mongolia made todays efforts at booking flights and accommodation bit more complicated. 

Then again, there was always going to be some tough bits to it.

Doing my homework paid off, and I feel like my flights, accommodation and JR Rail pass will be about the same cost as what one relatively cheap seller was offering for flights online.  I'm told that if I wasn't going in peak tourist season (Northern Hemisphere Summer) then the price could be cheaper again.

Some of the things I've been talking with JCS about are sounding quite good and look to be interesting ways to help out their work more broadly, even outside of the Ulaanbaatar capital.

I've also gotten over my reluctance to say "short-term mission trip" when telling people at work what I'm doing, I guess that is a good sign, and comes with practice, as I eventually realise the work I will be taking on.  

One exciting moment today (apart from booking the flights) was the joy of joining a frequent flyer program with an airline I have never used.  I will visit Seoul airport three times within a month, and may as well get the benefits, just in case I decide at some point in the future to go back and look some more.  But I can see how these things make traveling more addictive.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day, my family is lucky enough to be having lunch with Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.  

Hopefully more time soon to plan a Pete to Mongolia information night.  Details to follow.

An Engaging question

I have a ticket with the City Bible Forum Grads Club for the 2008 Engage Conference.

Engage sounds like one of those events that everyone wants to attend, and unfortunately I have a double booking which I have known about since Engage last year.

So, should I go to Engage with the big names, the big crowds and the big mountain, or should I go to the small names, small crowds and small mountain (well just out of Chatswood) conference of the mission fellowship that is arranging my trip to Mongolia?

There are two easy solutions... Go to Engage or alternatively find somebody who would like an Engage ticket and do some sort of arrangement.

New cultural frontier - Squat Toilets

A new piece of information learned about Mongolia (and much of Asia) today relates to the type of toilets that they often use.

A quick internet search indicates that there is lots of support for the squat toilets, from certain quarters.

I'm sure this is just one of many lessons to learn about the rest of the world, but one that would seem rather uncomfortable at the time.

Your source of all things Pete and Mongol

I'm trying to cut back on my addition to Facebook, so to compensate, I will try and spend some time writing on an ordinary blog again - Woo-hoo.

At the moment, this will be the place to be when it comes to finding the latest news about my OMF short-term trip to Mongolia.

Some more key things to know:

• Last day in the office before leaving - 18 July 2008
• First day back at work after the trip - 18 August 2008
• Time in Mongolia - 22 Days
• Time in Japan - 7 Days (going on a holiday afterwards) 

God has been good in so many ways.  This week has been refreshing, but also has required me to think through life again.  

Please pray that ongoing preparation will go well, and that I will find a keen team of prayer supporters for the trip.

Not just thinking anymore... I'm actually going

This is one of those posts that gives a big life update.

I'm tomorrow going to ask work to take three weeks off work in July and August to go and work with a group of Christians in Mongolia (and to take a holiday for a week on the way home).

There are some interesting plans, and I hope to learn as much as I help.  

Some day soon I will get around to organising an information night. The main point of the night will be to help people know what I'm doing, so they can pray for me. 

A few basic things:

• I'll be going with OMF
• I'll be also spending time with Joint Christian Services International
• I might visit Japan on the way home
• It is my first time out of Australia

I'm also contemplating an online password-protected prayer newsletter, so if you are interested, let me know.

Something random for a Saturday night

I waste so much time on the internet.

Oh well... 

Some questions, I'd be interested to know what people think:

1. Does everyone lose passion for things when they get tired because of work or is it just part of growing up?
2. Is it easier for guys and girls to talk as friends when one or both are in a relationship?
3. Why does it cost more (sometimes) to fly directly in and out of a location, than to have an additional stopover on the way?
4. Why is it so hard to get motivated/organised to hang out with people on the weekend?
5. How does a real "rest day" work in real life?

Have fun with the answers.

Practically connecting with the community = Connect 09 initiative

The Anglican Churches in Sydney are trying to make their focus outward, to focus on building relationships in the community, and to pray that God would use those relationships for sharing the gospel.

They call this initiative Connect 09.

So what better way to promote this initiative, and to get in the spirit of this initiative, than for my Dad (pictured) to join one of the local over-45's soccer teams.

He is the right age (he is definitely over 45), it would give him great contact with men living in and around the Hornsby Parish, and it would give his wife (also known affectionately as "Mum" by me) a great chance to go and talk to the other wives who go and laugh at their husbands on a Saturday afternoon at the football.

I don't know if Dad is so keen at the moment.  But I'm sure he would appreciate being given shorts, socks, shin-pads, boots, knee braces, ankle taping, ambulance cover (oh wait he already has that), and registration fees for his birthday, as a simple push in the right direction.  It is for the gospel after all.

(As an aside, if you want to see one way Dad has connected with his community, go up to Asquith Bowling Club, I haven't been, but others at morning church have enjoyed going up there and watching some sort of repeated slide show.) 

Update: Don't expect him to put on the boots any time soon, but it is for other reasons than for a lack of desire to connect in.