Archive for May 29, 2006

Curried Missionary – Part 15

May 29, 2006 / Molly / 5 comments


A few posts back I put up a poll about this series I’ve been doing for a while now. The results so far are that four people have voted and three out of four have no idea what Curried Missionary is. So, here it is, this is Curried Missionary and below are the links to all the other parts of the series.

In this part I look at Spiritual Warfare, I hope it’s helpful (I am by no means an expert on this subject by the way, these are my thoughts on this subject in relation to encouraging missionaries).

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

Pic: My mum Estelle with my nephew in PNG


“A Note On Spiritual Warfare

If you are planning on encouraging a missionary then you are making a choice to be a part of their spiritual battle. As soon as a missionary starts to prepare to go to the overseas or home mission field, Satan begins his attack. By encouraging missionaries we are fighting as part of the Lord’s army against this constant battle. It doesn’t matter if you decide to only post parcels or letters or whether you start a prayer meeting or distribute prayer letters, you are part of the battle!

As part of this battle it is vital that we put on the Lord’s armour as Ephesians 6:10-18 discusses and not take these verses lightly. The spreading of the message of Salvation begins with your support and encouragement and this is what the devil hates the most. He is the master of discouragement and will do his utmost to make a missionary return to their home country for the wrong reasons. So, before you start to take part in this missionary encouragement ministry you will need to put on God’s armour. The reason is clearly set out in verse 12;

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers f this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

Prepare yourself daily for this battle by making sure that your personal devotional and prayer life is on track and make sure that you are fully aware of its reality.

Missionaries encounter spiritual warfare in their everyday lives openly. They are often more aware of it’s reality whereas in the western world it ‘seems’ to be more subtle and hidden. It is vital that we understand fully the reasons why a missionary can become discouraged so that we can be most useful in this encouragement ministry.”

Category: All Sorts of Things, Curried Missionary /

Simple Beauty

May 29, 2006 / Molly / 3 comments

From our garden today. Its Autumn here in Australia as you can see from the leaves in the background. God’s creation is great isn’t it!
Category: All Sorts of Things /

Burning Isles

May 28, 2006 / Molly / 2 comments
Just a note that My Dad has made a new post (clicky there) on his blog. Thought I’d note that here because they don’t blog too often due to busyness in their missionary roles in PNG. Feel free to leave a comment on their blog, I don’t think anyone has yet and he’s been blogging for most of this year!

Pic: My Dad, Trevor Burns with my nephew Malachi.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

One Year Ago Today….

May 27, 2006 / Molly / 2 comments
……..Schapelle Corby‘s verdict was handed down. I remember standing in front of my TV thinking ‘no way!’. Since then a lot has been tried and failed to get her free or a lesser sentance. If you have a moment, stop and think of her today. One year down, 19 to go (or thereabouts, depending on many things!!).
Category: All Sorts of Things /

Illustration Friday – ‘Cake’

May 26, 2006 / Molly / 12 comments
IF this week has the theme ‘Cake’. When I was in my final year of uni I used rocks as my subject matter (yes, rocks). I tried to come from the angle of the double meaning with this painting entitled ‘Rock Cakes’. This is 60cm x 40cm, oil on canvas. Each ‘cake’ on the cake stand is actually a rock so here it is:


And here’s one shot of the original setup I used for reference:

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Photo Friday – ‘Home’

May 26, 2006 / Molly / One comment

The PF theme this week is home. This was our house in the UK in a little village called Debenham. It consisted of four rooms, lounge, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. That’s the whole front yard too, the dark lines along each side are the fences! Amazing difference between there and Australia! Our home in Australia is below. It seems that home is basically where family is so either place was good for us!

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Long-term, Short-term, Frontline, Home Staff…….

May 22, 2006 / Molly / 16 comments

I have been thinking lately about the ‘labels’ that are given to missionaries in our current age. Actually, these days even the word ‘missionary’ itself is a bit of a label within Christian circles. It annoys me that these labels are used, after all, aren’t all Christians meant to be missionaries? It all comes down to your definition of the word Missionary itself. I do take this view, I believe that if you are a born again believer you have been given the task of passing on the good news that there is an answer for that lost feeling (which is more than a feeling). To me, this action of passing this on is the word missionary as a verb.

Frontline, Home Staff, Overseas, Support, Local, Long-term, Short-term etc etc… these are all terms used to describe what KIND of missionary someone is. As much as some of these terms may be necessary I feel that they have been used in the wrong way by some people within the church. It’s almost as if you’re not a REAL missionary unless you are overseas, in a isolated situation that includes a lot of hardship and obvious sacrifice (and a long time). It’s true that it takes a great deal of courage and stepping out in faith to be in that position BUT usually those who are don’t see themselves as something to be put on a pedestal.

As Christians we ALL have been given the missionary task and whether you label it as a local task, overseas task or a support or prayer role it really doesn’t matter. It’s not location or even the type of job you’re doing, it’s whether you’re doing exactly what the Lord asks you to do. To me evangelism (locally) and being a missionary go hand in hand. I’ve come across a few churches that have the view that ‘no, we aren’t interested in missions, we’re concentrating on our local area’ as if they are two different things.

Anyway, after many posts about artwork and projects I do I thought it was high time that I put some of my serious thoughts (and opinions) down. Feel free to debate or disagree with me.

Pic: Us in front of the Sahel Academy sign in Niger.

Category: All Sorts of Things /

How Well Do You Know Me?

May 20, 2006 / Molly / 4 comments
I was thinking today that there are things that not even my closest friends seem to know about me so I thought I’d see if you can guess the answers to these questions:

1. My favourite type of shop to shop in is…..
a) a clothes shop b) a thrift (op) shop c) an art store

2. My favourite reality TV show is…..
a) Survivor b) Big Brother c) The Apprentice

3. My favourite lollies are…..
a) Boiled sweets b) chocolate bullets c) marshmallows

4. True or False, I’m really good at maths?

5. True or False, I really don’t like things made overseas?

Just a silly thing I thought I’d do to see if I’m showing my real self on here. Even if you don’t know, have a guess for fun.

Pic: Acrylic self-portrait by me

Category: All Sorts of Things /

Illustration Friday – ‘Sorry’

May 19, 2006 / Molly / 8 comments

The theme this week for IF is ‘Sorry’. When I read this, this painting came to mind. It’s a self-portrait in Acrylics and I’ve always thought it was a very moody painting.
Category: All Sorts of Things /

Photo Friday – ‘The Road’

May 19, 2006 / Molly / 3 comments

Photo Friday theme this week is ‘The Road’. For me living in Perth this particular road is theone that connects us with the rest of the country (Adelaide is the next nearest major city and it’s at least 3 days drive away – that’s driving in a fairly straight line!). It’s most likely that everyone who travels across Australia has this shot. This is from one of my many trips across the Nullabor.
Category: All Sorts of Things /
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