Welcome to the Maitland Alive blog! This is designed to keep you posted on what's happening as a team from Sydney partners with a local church in preparation for a 9 day program to share with the local community, the great news of forgiveness through Jesus. There'll be team news, profiles of the team, prayer points, photos from Maitland Alive events, resources and of course the standard posting of thoughts, tips and questions

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Handy resource

Illustrated book of John

Thought this might be helpful as a reference tool. It retains the words from the Bible without paraphrasing it

http://www.thomasnelsonillustratedbible.com/lowres/john_contents.php

http://www.thomasnelsonillustratedbible.com/lowres/John_01.php

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Link

Hey everyone

Was great to meet some of you at training day today!

In case you didn't grab the link that Andrew was telling us about, here it is:

http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/mission/resources/hold_that_audience/

Can I encourage everyone to read through the gospel of John (with the notes Pete gave us) and review the material Andrew took us through as a way of consolidating a jam packed but very exciting day!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Updated info

Hey everyone.

Welcome to those who are joining us on MA'08 potentially for the first time this year.

You should already have July 28 down in your diary as our first training day.

Here's the program:

10:30 – 11: Morning tea (please arrive promptly before 11am)

11 – 11:30: Introduction and welcome

11:30 – 12: Overview of John by Pastor Peter Ko. You won't want to miss this because our program will be based on John this year

12 – 1: Training session (conducted by a trainer from Anglican Youthworks. This will equip you with taking the content of John and making it into a creative, memorable, effective program for the kids)

1 - 1:45: Lunch - Vietnamese Pork Rolls......yummmmm

1:45 – 3:45 Training continues

3:45 – 4 Touch base with your section and close


In terms of sections, please have a think and pray about which section you'd like to be a part of in the lead up to TD1. Maybe think about an age group you haven't had experience with before and see it as a good opportunity to be stretched.

Minis - K-2
KHAOS - School Yrs 3-5
ROCK - School Yrs 6-8

Address: Pennant Hills Baptist Church (its 10 min up the hill from Pennant Hills train station)
Cnr Rosemount Ave and Ramsay Rd

Please bring $10 to cover costs.

ALSO, for your diary:

Weekend away

Date: 23 - 25 November
Where: Camp Kedron

TD2 - Sat 5 January 2008

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Flood in Maitland...

Hi guys

For those who wanted to find out about how the recent rain affected Maitland, this just in from Phill:

Greetings everyone,
it's very encouraging to know of your concern.
Only two families are stuck at home and both are fine.
In fact the Champness' are having a great time getting to know their neighbours and having dinner together with them.
The news tends to sensationalise what is happening. The flood ways and barriers are working as they should and controling the flooding.
Your prayers would be appreciated for the support of those who outside the church may be struggling and our involvement with them.
From drought to flood we are hardly in God's good books. Pray that people will see they are dependant of Him for things so easily change out of our control.
the view from our place and down across the road from the Gillham's




Friday, June 08, 2007

New weekend away date

Hi guys

The new weekend date has been set - it'll be Nov 23 - 25 because of the clash with NTE

Venue is TBC but will likely be in the north seeing as some Maitland ppl will be joining us

I know this will be during exams, but for most unis hopefully you'll will have finished most (if not all) of your exams by then.

There will be allocated study time during the weekend for those who still have exams.

Attendance at the weekend away is essential to you joining team (in fact i'm gonna say its compulsory because its so vital that you're there - just like the other two training days)

Friday, June 01, 2007

2008 MA kickoff!

Hey there past, present and future Maitland Alivers!

Planning for Maitland Alive 2008 has begun! So here's some noteworthy things.

Pray about them. Get out your diary and write them in now.

NEW FEMALE TEAM LEADER

Our beloved Emily's now studying here. (Thanks Em for all your hard work, faithfulness and example of Christ's servant heartedness)

Enter Sonja. Sonja's stepping into those shoes this year so please pray for her.

KEY DATES - PUT 'EM IN YOUR DIARY NOW!

This year, there's gonna be:

1. Two training days

Saturday July 28

Saturday January 5

Both will be at Pennant Hills Baptist Church from 11 - 4pm. Lunch included.

2. Weekend away

Fri 30 November - Sun 2 Dec (Venue TBC). After uni exams so no excuses!

3. Mission week

The main event! From Sat Jan 12 - Sun Jan 20, 2008. Bring it on!!

SPECIAL NOTES:
  • All these dates have been decided with YOU in mind (namely there's no clashes with things like RICE or uni exams)
  • This year, we'll be focussing on the book of John - in our team times as well as for our programs. Essentially, each section will create a program based on the book of John
  • In light of the above, and also because we'll only be having 2 training days, it'll be even more essential that you attend these key events in the mission calendar (on top of any separate section meetings). its just part of being of loving to your brothers and sisters
  • The weekend away WILL NOT incorporate a visit to MEC on the Sunday. Instead, we'll use the extra day to spend more time fellowshipping and bonding as a team. However, we'd still like to pay a visit to MEC for the benefit of catching up with people, as well as for any first timers who might wanna check things out. Date is TBC
Finally.....


Do you want training in.........

- making the content of John age specific
- compiling and putting together a lesson
- integrating it into a 5 day program
- making a lesson and program 'stick' and memorable???

If you said 'Yes please!' to any of those, then you won't wanna miss the
first training day coz its gonna give you all you need for mission as well as equipping you for serving in your own church and ministry generally! We'll be devoting 3 hrs of training to it. We're even getting a professional from Anglican Youthworks to come and run it for us.

BE THERE!!!!



So here's what to bring to TD1:

- Your Bible
- Pen
- $10 to cover costs
- A willing heart to serve the people of Maitland with the gospel of Jesus
- A glance or prior reading of John (maybe you might like to read it in your quiet times)
- An initial impression of which section you might like to serve in (Yrs K-2; 3-5 or 6-8)

And finally.....

FRIENDS WHO YOU THINK MIGHT BE WILLING TO SERVE IN MAITLAND!!!!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Gearing up for M&SA '07

Hi guys

1. Goals on mission

As a team, we're hoping that each team member will achieve the following goals on mission:
  • At least one clear gospel presentation using the God/Man/God outline with either a non-Christian parent or a kid
  • At least one visitation to a non-church family by the end of the week
If by the end of the week we were all able to achieve these things, i think we all would have been stretched, pushed out of comfort zone and been faithful as God's fellow workers. We plant the seed, God makes it grow!

2. Preparing for mission:

For those who weren't able to make it to the last training day, we had a session on 'Preparing for mission'. Kinda like an opportunity for those who've been up to Maitland before to get an idea of what to pack, what to expect etc.

Here were some of the things suggested:
  • have your program (and craft) finished before you arrive in Maitland. Mission is about making as much contact and building relationships with the locals around us. We're only there for about 7 days so its good to make the most of it rather than cutting up stuff the night before
  • bring a proper pillow!
  • air beds/mattresses will help. (we'll be sleeping in air conditioned, carpeted classrooms - no bunk beds)
  • get an ample amount of rest before mission (and also during mission). Sleep on time and be mindful of others who will want to rest.
  • bring enough clothes (to change in and out of because it'll be hot or you'll get into a water fight!), and also because the weather can change. (There will be opportunities to do a wash whilst your up there)
  • on the similar theme of dress, please dress respectively. Please pack with wisdom and propriety – mindful of what would be most helpful for fellow team members (particularly those of the opposite sex).
  • have a fishing trip mentality on mission - we're there to talk to people about Jesus so may our conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt. Be flexible - if a kid invites you to swim at their place, be willing to go! Ask and push for opportunities to visit families (for coffee, for dinner).
For others who want to contribute, feel free!!

FINALLY - it is assumed that you will be at mission from Sat morning right through until Sunday after pack up (which will be around lunchtime). If you won't be, please contact either Dan or Em ASAP.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Key dates for your diary

Hi guys

Key dates you'll need for upcoming MA events:

- Training Day 2 - Sat 5 August @ Pennant Hills Baptist. 10am start (followed by a bushdance up in Maitland. For details see below post and RSVP!)

- Weekend Away - October 13 - 15 at Summerland Point (near Lake Macquarie)

- Training Day 3 - November 25 @ Pennant Hills


And finally......

THE BIG ONE

Maitland Alive - 13 to 21 January 2006 in Maitland!


Lock them in Eddie!

Its back again!!!

I know there hasn't been a post here for a while, but hot off the press, there's talk of the infamous Maitland Evangelical Church Bushdance happening again!!!

For those who have experienced this in the past, this has definitely been one of the highlights of the mission week (amongst many others).

More details to follow, but basically it will be:

Sat 5 August (we will have met for Training Day 2 that day)
7pm-9pm

The kind folk of MEC have offered accommodation for those that want to stay over so pls don't let that deter you.

Also - this would be a great opportunity to meet some of the ppl we'll be ministering too early next year, and give you and your section a great chance to stick around for morning service the next day and interact with some of the kids!

Bring it on!

If anyone still has photos of the last bushdance, can you pls post up so we can reminisce as well as get an idea of what happened!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The washup from TD1

Hey guys

Stay tuned for the materials, photos and prayer points from TD1 held on Saturday.

Thanks to all who turned up. It was great to see so many new faces.

Feel free to post away!

Cheers
Dan