Griffith Gleanings February 2016

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GRIFFITH GLEANINGS FEBRUARY 2016
Thank you to those Adelaide friends who came along to the Adelaide Global Interaction Inspire event at the end of January. We appreciate your encouragement. We shared with a group of Global Interaction supporters and friends some of the conviction we have to serve as long term cross cultural workers. We also gave an update on

As part of our training we had a week recently in Melbourne to gain insight into the learning approach we will experience to grow in participation with the Khmer language and culture. Above you can see that we are still smiling after a week of learning some Portuguese vocabulary (Portuguese will sadly not help us speak Khmer). Gaining an “insiders” understanding of the Khmer culture is at the heart of the learning approach. We expect that as we are learning the culture and language in Cambodia that we will often feel sorry for the Khmer people who patiently help us, but the progress we made in our training gives us encouragement about our future learning. During the week we were provided with a great host family who role modelled servant hearts to us. It was also a highlight to be with two of the other families also preparing to be part of the team in Siem Reap, Cambodia with Global Interaction.

We have begun visiting churches and small groups for 2016. There are still plenty of dates available for those who haven’t seen or heard from us yet. So drop us a line if you would like to hear what God is up to choosing to use an ordinary couple to do extraordinary things in Cambodia.
Deb:
I have it before the Lord as to when I leave my workplace as I am planning to leave well. I am presently putting likely candidates in touch with my manager for my job role as nurse/midwife with the homeless and refugee communities of Adelaide. Considering around Sept/October; God knows.
There are many things to treasure at this stage, such as valuing the times with our family all together, the one on ones, the richness and diversity of our stages and celebrating each one’s steps in their adult lives, ministry, careers, friendships and openness to trust God in the many unknowns.

Rob:
As someone who was nicknamed “Pumpkin Bob” for a while at school when my classmates heard how much I had spent on pumpkin seeds, I have planted my share of seeds and nurtured the plants that emerged through to harvest. As I tried to find an illustration of what our journey has been like over the past two years, Jesus’ words came to mind in John 12:24 “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” The journey to a conviction to serve cross-culturally in Cambodia has been a lot like lying down to let die our worldly ambitions and skills to see something far more fruitful and worthwhile in God’s kingdom emerge. Our lives are like seeds that are only truly fruitful when we give up on our selfish plans and see what emerges when the master nurturer has his way.
Thank you to those of you who have already committed to supporting us in prayer and in a financial way. We will soon start giving an update on the financial progress towards the target we need to reach by December.
Interaction web page: the URL link is www.globalinteraction.org.au/RobDeb

Prayer Requests
As we talk with churches that sustaining relationships will be built for the long term.
That our family will know God’s wisdom in many changes.
For God’s strength sustaining Catherine Rogers daily in Cambodia.
The Windus family will know God’s sufficiency on home assignment.
Praise Points
People are building into us with prayer support that has been so encouraging.
Preparations at home level of sorting and packing.
Celebrating Bek (eldest daughter) being admitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia as a lawyer.
Financial supporters are partnering with us confirming God’s call to his mission in Cambodia.