Some Reflections from the FIEC conference- Part 1

Things have been ticking away with our plans for the church plant, though slower than we would like.  The main issue seems to be time, with Tim in his most hectic semester of Bible College so far, and me with my work at church, it can be hard to set aside the time that we want for planning for next year.

But we are slowly getting there :)  An ABN has been acquired and a website is in the process of being made.  A prayer letter will soon be written and we are looking forward to doing some fundraising soon.

One of the things that we did last week was go along to the FIEC conference.  FIEC stands for the "Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches", and is an organisation that GCC will be affiliated with.  It is not quite a denomination, but it functions in many similar ways, offering support, pastoral care, encouragement, and various administrative things.  It is a great blessing, because as Christians we don't want to be wholly "independent".  The Gospel acts to bring people together and it is great for like-minded people to encourage and inspire each other in their churches ministry, and particularly to help each other to keep on track with their mission.

I loved it!  It was really exciting to see a group of different churches who had similar passion and goals as Tim and I.  As an organisation it just started as a group of mates who were all church planting, and decided that they could be more effective if they shared resources and met to encourage each other.  And over time, as those churches planted other churches, and as other church planters connected up with the Fellowship, it grew to be quite substantial.

But the thing I love the most about it (of course, knowing me:), is that everyone who is part of it is all about reaching the lost.  They look out at the Australian scene and they see how many people do not know Jesus, and this is the driving force behind all they do.  They don't focus on how many people are "in" their churches.  They focus on how many people are lost and on their doorstep, and they pray and think and plan how they can tell them the good news.

You can find out more about FIEC on their website: http://www.fiec.org.au/

Some great things to pray for us this week:
-Pray for Tim and his studies, that he would be able to get the most out of this last semester and that it will equip him for a life-time of pastoring
-Pray for me (Belinda) that God would give me boldness in my evangelism, and wisdom in my teaching.
-Pray for our current Church- Chatswood Baptist as they begin to look for a replacement for Belinda for next year.
-Pray for God to continue to build up a core-team for our church plant
-Pray that God will provide the people, resources and finance we need for next year.

Thanks for your prayers and interest in GCC!
:)
Belinda