Time to rest awhile...

Thank you for your continuing prayers. The annual lectures have now
finished and students are on a two week holiday. The lectures were very
helpful, addressing issues relating to how we do Christian ministry in
a changing cultural context. This was very helpful for the staff and
students in Vanuatu as the church struggles to work out what we must
hold tightly in order to be faithful, and what we need to let go of to
adapt to the changing situation in Vanuatu. Pray that the students and
staff would think deeply about what they have heard and let it affect
the way they do their ministry. Pray that God would keep the churches
in Vanuatu faithful and that they will resist the temptations to change
the Gospel or compromise with worldly things. Pray that as we do this
God would give us his perspective on the changes that are taking place
in society. Pray that he would enable us to change where necessary so
that the we can clearly proclaim Christ to the people of Vanuatu.

We will be having a rest over the next week! Pray that the staff and
students would have a good rest and come back both physically and
spiritually refreshed.

We also always appreciate your prayers for our own growth in holiness
and for us to trust fully in God as we live and work here.

Yours in Christ,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany & Matthew

Anglican Church destroyed in Earthquake

There have been quite a lot of different things happening so we'll list
the main ones.

ANGLICAN CHURCH DESTROYED IN EARTHQUAKE
• We rejoice that there was not much damage from the earthquake on the
2nd August. We have only heard of serious damage to one building.
Unfortunately it was the brand new Anglican church in Luganville which
opened last year and had not quite finished being built. The walls
buckled making it unstable, so they had to dismantle the roof and knock
the walls down. It is now just a slab of concrete and some piles of
rubble... and there is no insurance here. Last week I spoke to the
minister there, a Talua graduate, and he was holding back tears as he
told me of the disappointment the congregation is feeling. He said he
is trying to give them hope through his preaching as they think about
rebuilding. Pray that God would give comfort and strength to the pastor
and congregation so that they will continue to preach the Gospel and
teach God's Word in Luganville. Pray also that God would provide them
with the emotional and spiritual strength and the resources they need
to begin rebuilding.

ORDINATION
The Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu has approved my ordination on 2nd
September. (This ordination will be recognised in Vanuatu but not
Australia.) Glen will meet with the Presbytery Clerk before the event
to discuss what this will involve, including the commitment required
and the doctrinal and political issues. Please pray for these
discussions.

BUILDING WORK
An APWM workparty carried out further work on the new library, and
several NZ teams have been building a house for staff accommodation.
These buildings are part of the preparations for a degree course next
year. Give thanks for the progress of this building work and for the
preparations for the degree course.

ANNUAL LECTURES
Next week the Talua annual lectures will be held on the topic of church
growth. All the staff and students attend, and this year there will be
several visiting lecturers from New Zealand. Pray that the lectures
will be biblical and thought provoking. Pray that staff and students
will think carefully and critically about what they are hearing, and
then put it into practice in their own ministry in the Vanuatu context.

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
• Glen's big joy from two weeks ago was seeing God give assurance of
salvation to a student (Ronald) while we were studying Revelation 20 in
class! The students have already studied Romans but that didn't give
him assurance. This term we studied Hebrews and looked at the
confidence we have to come before the throne of God through Christ our
High Priest. But that didn't do it either. Then we looked at the
judgment scene in Revelation. The books were opened and everyone great
and small was judged by the works written in the books. But then there
is another book, the book of life, and everyone whose name was written
in this book was not thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the
others. All his life he had been in deep fear that on the last day God
would cast him into hell, but through this passage God gave him
confidence of his righteousness before God through Christ and deep joy.
He couldn't wipe the smile off his face! Give thanks for Ronald's
clearer understanding of what Christ has done for him and for the joy
that this has brought to his life, and pray that these things would
become deeper and stronger in his life.

2008
• Pray for wisdom as we decide what commitments to take on for next
year.

With love from your brothers and sisters in Christ,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany and Matthew

Exam week - our situation is easy!

Talua is a lot quieter now as students are preparing to begin their
exams tomorrow. Please pray for the students as they do exams on
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Bethany and Matthew have a small cold. It is not serious at this stage,
but Matthew is having trouble sleeping and it has made us all very
tired. Pray that they would be well again quickly and that we would be
able to have good rest at night. Pray too that we will have more chance
to rest a little over the next few weeks and also to work on some of
the major projects we want to do which were put aside during term time.

The earthquake caused a little damage in Luganville, such as cracks in
the road, buildings and the main bridge and loss of power, but there
does not seem to have been any serious damage or injury. At Talua there
are a few cracks in buildings and the water was out for about three
days, but that is all. We also continue to have a lot of rain, although
not as much as before. It is easy to start to feel negative about these
things or to complain, but then we read the news about millions of
people homeless in Asia and we realise that our sovereign God is
dealing very gently with us at Talua. We have not even come close to a
situation which forces us to rely upon God and not ourselves. Please
continue to pray for those throughout the world who are suffering at
the moment. We know that God is in control even of these things, and we
pray that he would work for good through all these events so that
people may come to know him and he may be glorified in all the earth.

We have another mentoring night on Friday (Glen with the men) and
Saturday (Rachael with the women). Pray it would be a good time
reflecting on God's word together and on how the term has been for each
person.

Earthquake!

There was a fairly large earthquake (7.3) off the coast of Malekula,
Vanuatu early this morning. We thought we'd let you know we are okay in
case you hear about it and are concerned. It was the largest we have
experienced here, but there was no injury or damage at Talua that we
know of.

If you want to see more technical details have a look at:
http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?

eventType=EQ&ID=29157&system=asgard&location=VUT&alertlevel=Orange&glide
_no=&TsID=443&datetime=20070801

There are many students and staff from Malekula. We will let you know
if we hear of any serious injury or damage that occurred there.

One week before exams...

This week is the last teaching week of term and things are beginning to
wind down. It is a great time for students to consolidate what they
have learnt, but it is easy for motivation to be dominated by the exam
rather than a desire for knowledge of God and obedience to him. Please
pray that the students would be disciplined and work hard during this
next week and during exams, and that they would keep focused on the
importance of what they are learning.

There was a public holiday last week and another one today, and these
have broken the continuity between lessons. It will be a challenge this
week to pick up the momentum and enthusiasm after the missed classes,
and then to finish the courses in a way that gives some sense of
completion. Please pray for all the staff as they teach this week.

Glen's lessons and goals during the week are as follows:
Certificate 1: Revelation 21-22 - This is a wonderful climax to the
course. Pray that the students would have a greater vision of the
wonderful things that God has in store for us, and that they will
desire to live now and carry out their ministry in a way that is
focused on God's glory both now and in the future.

Diploma 1, Knowledge of God - We will finish by looking at some of the
practical implications of God as Trinity. This is not as clear in my
thinking and I need to do a lot more thinking, reading and praying.
Please pray for me as I prepare this. I need lots of help!!!

Diploma 1, Pentateuch - We will finish the course with Deuteronomy,
which is a wonderful challenge about how we will respond to God. The
book calls for us to love God, trust him, fear him, obey him etc.
Moses knew the Israelites would fail because of their sinful hearts,
but the book also points us to Christ in many ways. It is fitting way
for us to end the course. Please pray that the message of Deuteronomy
would challenge and help us in our response to God.

The upcoming exams also bring stress for a lot of students, especially
those who find it hard to write in English. Please pray that God would
help these students with their study and comfort them in their fears.

Thank you again for your prayers. We know that God delights to answer
the prayers of his people!
Yours in Christ,
Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany and Matthew Connor

rain, Rain, RAIN!

Greetings,

We have seen the sun for a only a few hours in total over the whole
last 3 weeks, and very little during the 3 weeks before that. There has
been a great deal of rain, the wettest we have seen during our time
here. It is the first time we have seen the ground totally saturated so
that there are small lakes forming all around the campus. We rejoice
in the rain but please pray that we would be patient when it feels
inconvenient, especially as the cloud means that we have had almost no
solar power over the past 6 weeks. We are having to ration our
electricity fairly carefully.

Rachael taught her last class for the term this morning and next week
her students will each present a song which fits with part of the
course. Glen will teach this week and part of next week. The following
week is exams. There is not really a general culture of hard study at
Talua. Please pray that the students would value the time leading up to
exams and study hard, not just to pass their courses but to learn
things that will help them in their Christian life and ministry.

Rachael has finally been able to speak individually with the women she
is mentoring. Each is really really keen to meet up each week to read
the bible and pray together (Susan, Esther and Katiri). This is really
encouraging and a fabulous opportunity to be thinking about spiritual
matters together. She stills needs to talk with Julie and Deli.

We are all in good health. The students who had malaria seem to have
recovered. Leila Williamson is now sick, possibly with malaria. Joshua
next door has mumps. Some lecturers have also missed classes with
sickness. Please continue to pray for health and healing, for trust in
God through sickness, and that the sickness not interrupt teaching or
learning at Talua.

Next Monday is Independence Day, a very important time in Vanuatu.
Vanuatu is still a Christian nation, but many are commenting that God
has less place in politics now. There is a desire for the nation to
grow economically and become more like Western nations, but the
Christian basis can easily be overlooked. Please pray that during
Independence Day celebrations people would reflect on the place of God
in the lives of individuals and the nation, and that we would have
opportunities to discuss these issues with students.

Yours in Christ,
Glen and Rachael Connor

Connor weekly prayer points 18th July 2007

Greetings,

Recently we have been reflecting on our need in a foreign context to pay more attention to our spiritual sustenance because we receive much less encouragement and teaching than we do in Australia. When you are experiencing isolation as a family from wider society, it is more important than ever that family relationships be strong and based on a deep relationship with God. Please uphold us in your prayers in this area.

The work party from APWM (mission partners) arrived at Talua on Tuesday morning and will stay for almost two weeks. Eight people will be working on the new library and two people will be involved in observing and helping with mission work in the bush and in Luganville. Glen may join in some of the mission trips, and we are hosting two members of the party.

Glen is continuing through the book of Revelation with his Certificate class and will begin looking at the Trinity soon with Diploma 1. He finds it very difficult to understand many of these things himself, and then difficult to work out the best way to teach and apply these things in an unfamiliar context. The plan with Diploma 1 is first to give a brief summary of the doctrine of the Trinity, but then to spend most of the time reading through the parts of John's Gospel which show us the relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit. Hopefully the students will find it easier to read what Jesus said and did to reveal his Father to us and so to understand who God is as Father, Son and Spirit, rather than discussing the ideas more abstractly or philosophically.

Rachael's course on women in the Old Testament is coming to an end. Yesterday we looked at the Exile, with particular reference to Ezekiel's wife and the temple and next week we'll be looking at the return to the land and how even though God's promises to his people have come true, sin is still spoiling everything. Each week we have looked at how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament and next week we'll look at how Jesus solves this problem.

We continue to appreciate your prayer, knowing that God delights in answering the prayers of his people, however weak or feeble they may
seem in our eyes,

With love from your brothers and sisters in Christ,Glen, Rachael, Sophie, Bethany and Matthew

PRAYER• Pray that we would enjoy many times of rich blessing with God as we read his word and pray, including privately, as a family and with the wider community. Pray that God would use us as a family to bring spiritual and emotional support to one another.

• Pray that God would give safety to the workers building the new library and the mission group traveling in the bush. Pray that equipment and supplies needed for building the library would all be available and that there be no major setbacks. Pray that those involved in the mission trip will be challenged in their own lives, and that God would bring more people in isolated parts of Vanuatu and Luganville to know himself through this mission work.

• Pray that God would gives us wisdom and understanding as we prepare our lessons. Pray that the students we teach would continue to grow both intellectually and spiritually. Pray especially for Glen and the students as we look together at Revelation and the Bible's teaching about who God is as Father, Son and Spirit.

• Pray for students who are sick with the flu and malaria and for Esther in the mission program who had an operation last weekend in the Luganville Hospital, that God would give them a quick and safe recovery and that they would continue to trust and glorify him through their sickness.