STUDY!!!!

I can't believe it, I just spent the last 2.5hrs in the library! I've never done that before, except for those times at school when we used to sneak into the library and play Doom :)

We have a church history essay due on the 5th of march so that's what we are both working on at the moment. Jess is in her element - "this is what I was made for" - were her words. I've got a head ache most of the time so might need to get some glasses if it keeps up!

Otherwise it's great fun learning about lots of different things, ie Episcopal forms of church government, and the role of Columba in the British and Irish churches.

On a more lighter note - My first footy training will be tonight, hopefully they will be nice to me :)

Our thoughts and prayers are with Dave, Evthoxia and the boys as well.

How awesome and complex is our great God!!?? It's amazing learning more about his sovereign rule of this world and a challenge to trust in him always as hard things in life come.

Missing Tas a bit - but all is going well.
Marty. :)

O Week Ends

Well for many of you the idea of O Week may evoke some very exciting images: No work, free bands, free beer, no sleep, students running around everywhere…

Well let’s just say our O Week has been very different: family BBQ’s, study skills, talks on hygiene & what is appropriate to wear, dining etiquette, dinner with the other married couples (Newtown Thai of course)…

But one thing is the same - Library tours! Which I very much enjoyed – it’s just the smell of the books, & being surrounded by so much good stuff - it’s very special & a little overwhelming :)

So it was an interesting experience & now we are straight into lectures.

O week begins!

Hey, well this week is O week, we start with a dinner tonight then the rest of the week is meeting new people, hearing the rules and going to study skills classes. (not much fun apparently)
Last Sat we went surfing down at bondi and got totally roasted! We didnt think the UV rays were that bad in syd, compared to tassie. But it was lots of fun. Sunday we went to "church by the bridge" and met Paul Dale and some other nice people. Its in kirabilli so we checked out luna park after that and found a good fishing spot for king fish! Later we had a bbq dinner back at college and watched the tennis outside on the big screen.
Well thats about it from me,
Marty.

Sydney!!

We have finally arrived in Sydney! After a very smooth sailing over the Bass Straight & a long hot drive on the Hume we are here & mostly unpacked. We were able to celebrate Australia Day in style down at the Rocks with Gluten Free pide, Ash Grunwald, & then trying to find some New Town Thai we actually ended up in Balmain (North East of the city) – oops! We will soon hopefully get our bearings, although we have got lost every time we try & go somewhere so far!

We don’t have any College stuff until Monday, so we are just going to keep settling in and resting after a very full on few weeks!

Marty & Jess

Holidays, Youth Convention, Packing...

Sorry about the silence of late… we have been very busy! In December I was tying up loose ends, then had the Christmas holidays, then we went to Adelaide for the Reformed Youth Convention, then we came home & started packing up our house to move to Sydney!

So I have now finished my ministry apprenticeship – I actually finished at the youth convention, which was a really good way to end. Clinton Berends (from Redlands Reformed Church) and Marty Ford (from Trinity College in Perth) did the talks, and they were fantastic. So besides being stuck in the middle of nowhere during Adelaide’s heat wave, with flies, dirt, & sweaty youth... it was really good!

So we are now preparing for our move up to College in Sydney. From then the blog will change a bit as Marty & I will both write about how college is going, so if you want to keep in touch with our next stage in life… keep on reading!

Supporters Letter...

Things are starting to come to an end for me here in this very cold office at Kingston Church :) I am almost finished my 2 year ministry apprenticeship, but still feel like I only just started! There is still so much to learn – yet when I think back – I have actually learnt so much these past 2 years. Mostly about how majestic our God is and how much we are all in desperate need for him. I’ve also learnt so much about ministry and about myself - so I am really grateful to have been able to do this apprenticeship.

So there are a lot of people I want to thank…

Firstly, I really want to personally thank Belinda for training me and teaching me the hard stuff these past 2 years. I must have driven you insane so many times!! So a very big thank you to you and your family.

I also want to thank the wider ministry team from our churches... all of you have supported and helped me in so many ways! And also - thank you to the many men I bugged and asked random questions to when Belinda wasn’t around!

Finally, I want to thank my church families at Kingston and at Summerleas. You have supported Marty and I so much, either financially or through prayer, encouraging words etc. We both really appreciate it and feel very blessed.

So the future for Marty and I is looking a little bit scary but also very exciting! We are heading to Sydney next year to study at Sydney Missionary and Bible College where we both plan to do the 2 year diploma. We would really appreciate your prayers as we make this move, and as we really get into studying the Bible next year.

In Christ,
Jess Prins

Christmas is coming...

Well it is December already! So the Christmas tree has been found, sawn, dragged across the paddock, thrown over the back fence, & lovingly decorated :) Yes it is a little wind blown & has brought many lovely crawly creatures into our lounge room - but it does bring some Christmas cheer.

I am normally a bit of a Christmas humbug – I hate the songs & the decorations everywhere, but something about this year – maybe because we are leaving soon, or maybe its because we are going to be home for Christmas this year - has drawn me to embrace the Christmas spirit!

But don't expect to hear me singing the Christmas songs! :)