Dear friends,
Please pray for the Passion for Life evangelistic talks this week. Phillip and Helen Jensen have arrived in Durham, tired after a long flight but safe and well. It was great to hear some Australian accents at church this morning and see their familiar faces. Please pray that those who come to the talks, including our neighbour Patrick, will clearly hear and be challeged by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that our neighbour Ian will come too.
The new heating system will be installed this week, with pipes being put into the walls and under the floor. Please pray that Lionel can get some work done despite the disruption.
Thank God that the first week of Spring, though still cold, was sunnier than last week!
Dear friends,
Thank God that my thesis is “on track”. I’ve spent the first five months learning German and conducting detailed textual work in Paul’s letters – but now, I’m ready to begin reading more widely and writing my first chapter. It’s good to be finally ready to start typing the first of almost 100,000 words…
Thank God that my talk at the ultra-nerd science quiz last Saturday went well. It seemed to stimulate a few good conversations about Jesus. Pray especially for D, P and A, three science students who are asking excellent questions about the reality and meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Pray also for our friend Peter, a former maths teacher (now school administrator). He accepted my invitation to come, helped us immensely with the maths questions, and after I finished my talk, we had our first serious conversation about Jesus. The text of the talk will be available soon on the Sola Panel, if you’d like to check it out.
Thank you for praying, and please continue to pray, for our financial situation, as we mentioned in our previous post, and the raising of an additional $40,000 in the next two years. We have received some encouraging indications of additional support. We continue to learn trust in our God who supplies all our needs according to his glorious riches.
Praise God that Patrick, our neighbour, has accepted our invitation to come to hear Phillip Jensen speaking evangelistically in Durham in mid-March. Pray that Phillip will present the gospel clearly, and that God will enable Patrick (and all who attend) to grasp God’s glory and love in Christ.
The weather is still very cold, but not quite so dark. It’s most likely shaping up to be the coldest winter in 30 years! Almost 3 months after our landlord’s initial application, the gas is now connected to our house; we just need to hear back from the plumber about installing the new heating system.
Today we had a church “Family Fun Day”, with a space theme. Harry and Adelaide dressed up as a special kind of alien…
Dear friends,
This news and prayer update is slightly longer than usual. We’ve been here for 4 months, and we’ve had a chance to review costs and income and make more precise projections. We have found that we will need to raise some more funds to complete the PhD. This need isn’t urgent yet—but I’m raising the issue now so that it doesn’t become urgent! Within the next two years, based on realistic projections of income and the cost of living in the UK, we will need additional gifts of $40,000, which is about 20% on top of the amount already raised. This update is to explain the situation, and to ask for your help.
The benefits of PhD study
Under God, we are still convinced that this PhD is the right thing to do. We are encouraged by the “votes of confidence” from people we know and trust: in particular my scholarship, awarded in consultation with the Principal of Moore College and the Rector of St Thomas’ Anglican Church, North Sydney; and the fact that our personal supporters, including many of you, have provided so much already. Thank you!
Furthermore, my supervisor and the faculty at Durham are world class: doing a PhD in England provides an opportunity to interact with, learn from, be challenged by and even – at times – challenge top-class scholars face-to-face. I can see that this interaction that I’ve already had will be invaluable for equipping future Australian (and God-willing, Malaysian) gospel ministers for a lifetime of theological thinking and teaching.
Doing a PhD at this time in our life actually has great benefits. I can see that my parish ministry experience puts me at an advantage compared with many of my colleagues, because it helps me better understand how biblical and theological issues can impact the life of real people in churches. Gospel ministry, not academia, is what drives us on. Of course, the decision to do a PhD at this time is also expensive, because of the need to support a family (not to mention the international university fees).
The need
When we left Australia in August 2009, our income seemed reasonably well balanced against expenses. The favourable exchange rate has also helped. One-off gifts have been substantially above our expectations, for which we are very grateful to God.
However, there are two issues that need further action and prayer.
Firstly, the regular, ongoing gifts from supporters are below the amount we expected from pledges.
Secondly, our costsare also slightly higher than expected, especially in the areas of heating and food Our initial estimate of UK living expenses, which we carried out from sunny Australia, has proved to be about 10% lower than the reality, even taking into account reasonable future reductions (e.g. this has been the UK’s coldest winter in 30 years; and our landlord is about to install gas central heating, which will significantly reduce our future heating bill).
At the moment, there are still significant funds in the bank, but on current trends we only have funds for about 2½ of the 3 years of the PhD. In order to finish the PhD (and bring our family home again to Australia in the middle of 2012) we will need an extra $40,000 more in total, which is equivalent to additional pledges of $1,380 per month for the next 29 months.
Our request to you
It is always humbling to ask for money. But we know that God is loving and provides for all the needs of his people. Please:
- Pray for us: specifically, please pray for $40,000 more over the next two years.
- If you can, please consider if you are able to contribute financially.
Giving money
This response form enables you to indicate your support. Our treasurer, Lindsay Dunstan, keeps track of offers of support and donations. Lindsay will inform us about the identity of donors and the total amount, but not amounts given by specific individuals.
The simplest way to give is by depositing money into the following Westpac account (via a Westpac branch, or by phone or internet banking).
Bank = Westpac (Australia)
Account name = Lionel Windsor
BSB = 732695
Account # = 685328
You can also write cheque(s) payable to “Lionel Windsor” and post to Mr Lindsay Dunstan, Treasurer (address below), who will deposit them into this account.
For more information
For more information, please use the following links:
We’ll keep you posted on how this all goes!
With love,
Lionel & (Leonie) Bronwyn and kids.
Please pray for Bronwyn, as she helps to run a Christianity Explored course through church. One of the women attending, Yvonne, and her husband Peter are friends of ours through the church’s playgroup, Sticky Fingers. Peter, Yvonne and their daughter Julia joined us for cake for Ellie’s 3rd birthday aternoon tea (photos below!) Thank God for our beautiful little girl whom we’ve had for three years and pray that she will grow in her understanding and love of the Lord Jesus.
The continuous stream of cold, dark grey days is beginning to noticeably affect my mood. I understand that this is quite common in February, especially in Northern England. Recent temperatures here have often been 5-6 degrees colder than in the South. I would appreciate prayer for this. Thankfully we did have a sunny day last weekend (again, photos below!).
We’re also thankful that, after numerous delays caused by administrative errors on behalf of National Grid, the gas has finally been connected to our house. This is the first (and, we are told, most painful) of the steps towards completing our landlord’s plan to install central heating. Once it’s finally up and running, central heating should reduce our energy bills considerably, since electricity is considerably more expensive in the UK. Please pray for a speedy resolution to whatever further administrative and technical hurdles lie ahead.
  
Thank God that the meeting with my supervisor went well. I now have a solid and robust overall structure to help me guide my reading and writing.
Back in December, I spoke at an evangelistic event for science postgrads. Please pray for D. who came to the event and borrowed a book from me on the evidence for Jesus’ claims. He returned the book with a note saying it had been very helpful. He is not yet a Christian, but I understand that he’s inviting his own friends to consider Jesus! The group will be running another science quiz on 20 February, designed for a wider range of science-related people (undergraduates, postgraduates and science workers). I will be speaking on Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2; the title will be “God, the universe, and all that”. A number of people at church have already told me that they will be inviting friends. Please pray for my preparation, for invitations to be issued and accepted, and for God to work through his word and bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Thank God that Adelaide and Harry have enjoyed using their XTB notes to learn from the Bible each weekday evening.
Eleanor’s abilities in speech are progressing. Please keep praying for her development in this area. She’s been offered 5 mornings a week at nursery beginning in April, which we expect will really helpful for stimulating her speech.
The ongoing cold and darkness gets us down sometimes. Please pray for patience, love and good spirits for our family. This weekend we’ve had sunshine and snow!
As my thesis takes shape, I can start to articulate some reasons why my research might be helpful (to myself, and, God willing, to others). My topic will be something like: “The way that Paul’s Israelite identity informs his apostolic ministry and his missiological reading of Scripture”. Here’s why it might be helpful:
- I want to look particularly at the way that Paul understands the Old Testament as a basis for his own mission and ministry (hence “missiological reading”). This will help to deepen our appreciation of the way that the Bible (including the Old Testament) is our source and authority for ministry and mission (cf. 2 Tim 3:16-17).
- More generally, I want to gain a deeper appreciation of biblical theology and the links between Old and New Testaments. My supervisor is an expert in this field.
- A recent scholarly movement, called the “New Perspective on Paul”, has sometimes had the effect of redefining or marginalising the classic reformed doctrine of justification. I may be able to show that the relationship between Jew and Gentile in the New Testament, although very important, doesn’t require a rethinking of justification in some of the drastic ways advocated by proponents of the New Perspective. I’m largely indebted here to the ideas of Donald Robinson, who was teaching his students about the importance of the relationship between Jew and Gentile in the New Testament long before the New Perspective came along.
Please pray for my meeting with my supervisor on Monday, that we can agree to a course of study that will bear fruit for God’s glory.
Please pray for our church at the moment. We are having some evangelistic events in the coming few weeks, including some talks by Phillip Jensen in mid-March. Pray for our neighbours and school parents, that we’d have opportunities to speak of Jesus and invite them to these events. Please also pray for our church’s finances: we’re in a significant deficit at the moment because external sources of funding for the student ministry have been greatly reduced by the global financial crisis. Please pray for God’s provision and that our church family’s trust in God and sacrificial generosity might grow.
Dear friends,
My slow but steady progress in reading that German thesis is producing some good results. My German translation rate is speeding up (about 1 page per hour now!), and I think I have a clearer idea about where my own thesis is heading. New Testament scholars tend to place a lot of weight on first century Judaism to shed light on the New Testament. But a lot of work still remains to be done in understanding how the Old Testament itself is the basis for New Testament themes. In my case, it seems there is room for fruitful study into the Old Testament background to Paul’s apostolic ministry. I will have a meeting with my supervisor soon; please pray that this will result in a solid and workable thesis structure.
The weather is a little warmer now, and the snow and ice is slowly melting. Thank you for praying for our safety at this time. Harry’s 6th birthday party went really well; he has made lots of friends at school who all enjoyed coming along.
Give thanks that our accommodation is working out well. While it’s quite squashy at times (especially when 3 kids are at home all day because of the snow!), it’s very suited to our needs and close to the centre of town, and the owner is very responsive to any problems that arise with the house or fixtures. She is planning to replace the electric heaters with a more efficient central heating system. We are due to have the gas connected to the house on the 26th of January, for the central heating. This has already been postponed once due to the snow, so please pray that it will go ahead.
Apparently the news about Britain’s freezing weather has made headlines in Australia. We’re technically snowed in, but warm! Our house is close to the centre of Durham, so we can still buy groceries and go to church. Our car is snowed in, but school is closed anyway. The kids are coping remarkably well but really want to go back to school.
I’ve still got my books, so at least I can study! My German comprehension is speeding up and I’m finding the German dissertation very helpful.
Please pray for safety in travel for all of us over the coming weeks. The weather reports suggest that the freezing conditions will go on for some time; supplies of salt and grit are running low nationwide so the roads around here will either be closed or become very slippery, and even the footpaths are quite dangerous because they’re coated with thick layers of ice underneath the snow. Next Saturday is Harry’s Birthday party; we’re going to an indoor play centre with his friends. Please pray that it’s able to go ahead!
Today we went into town and took a photo of the frozen River Wear from the Framwellgate Bridge near the centre of Durham:
I’m making slow but steady progress with the task of defining my thesis. At the moment, I’m trying to read a German thesis written in 1992 which is critical for my own work (see previous prayer points). I’m currently reading about half a page per hour – but accelerating! To help develop my German language skills, I’m also trying to read Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (i.e. the first Harry Potter). Please pray for increased comprehension and more clarity with regards to the scope of my own thesis.
As I have more and more conversations with the theological students at the university, I am struck by how much variation there is in their spiritual maturity. A number of the students seem to be studying theology simply because they are at a loose end in life and don’t know quite what else to do. Please pray for D, a Masters student, and M, a PhD student, who are struggling in their walk with Christ. Pray that I can encourage them and others even as I am being challenged and stretched.
The snow has continued unabated since our last set of prayer points, and according to the forecasters there’s still no end in sight! The locals say it’s the longest cold snap for at least 20 years; and it seems there is much more cold weather to come. Durham is quite pretty at the moment, especially in the sunshine after a heavy snowfall. The kids have had two weeks of school holidays over Christmas. With the snow, icy roads, icy footpaths and short days we’ve been inside most of the time (the phrase ‘climbing the walls’ comes to mind every so often). We thank God for the generosity of church friends in opening their homes to us: for example, we spent Christmas day with an American family who hosted theological students and their families who were a long way from home for Christmas (i.e. us plus 24 Americans).
Here we are walking to church this morning in the snow:
We live on the A690 – the main road through Durham.
This is North Road – ‘downtown’ Durham. In the background is Durham castle, which is now a residential college for undergraduates.
The River Wear
Our church family meets in a senior high school hall called the Sixth Form Centre.
Dear friends,
I’m very grateful to a friend (and subscriber to these prayer points) who pointed out to me the existence of a PhD dissertation, written in 1992, which significantly overlaps with my own proposed thesis structure. I now have a copy from the library, and it’s in German – all 200 pages of it! This has in fact come at a very good time. My own thesis structure isn’t finalised yet, so it can be modified to ensure it doesn’t overlap too much with the German dissertation. I’ve just finished working through the German textbook, and I was looking for a German theological work to read in order to get properly fluent and learn the theological vocabulary related to my field of study. A great way to kill two birds with one stone (i.e. learning German and doing the thesis).
Many of y0u will already know the sad news about Bronwyn Chin, the wife of Richard Chin, national director of AFES. Bronwyn has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Richard, Bronwyn and their 4 children are beloved long-term members of our Wollongong church family, and have been particularly kind to our family in many ways. While we feel the physical distance from them acutely, we know that we can share in praying for them, and ask that you would do the same.
It was great to see a significant number of young men considering full-time vocational ministry at “ministry week” in Durham – thanks for praying for my presentation.
We have snow! All the locals seem to be taking it in their stride, but it’s a great novelty for us to have snow in our backyard. We went for a walk to the local park this afternoon and threw snowballs at each other. Pictures below!
More pictures of Durham city in the snow are available on my website.
More snow is falling as I write this. Happy Christmas! Rejoice with us at the birth of our saviour.
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