drool...

Joy to the world

Well, festivities are officially over. I went to some Christmas gatherings – 1 with neighbours, 1 with students and 1 with friends. They were all small and simple gatherings which I prefer as they are more relaxed and intimate, and cuts the need for the cocktail party small talk rubbish.

Anyway, I did spend a little bit of time and cloud out the eating and merry-making and reflect on what Christmas means for me. One thing was, I realised that I actually do like the carol “Joy to the world” as it talks about some significant points. 1. That everything on earth should rejoice because of the Incarnation – God becoming one of us, that we may be reconciled to God. 2. But we need to make space in our hearts, and in our lives to embrace Jesus and all that he requires of us if we choose to follow him.

A lot of my thinking about what Christmas means to me has been centred around John 1:1-18. I have heard it many times before. Even remember a song about it. But it has never quite grabbed me like it has since I had to prepare a bible study on it about 3 weeks ago. As Stu says in his sermon, this passage talks about a divine yet dangerous interference in all our lives (whether we choose to acknowledge that Interference or not). This reminds me of a bit in the “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Lucy and the others were eating with the Beavers and were hearing about Aslan for the first time. Upon hearing that Aslan in a lion, one of the children ask “Is he safe?” And the reply “Safe? Of course not. But he is good”.

So as we enter a new year, I will continue to ponder on the Incarnation and this divine interference.

Joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart, prepare him room

The ‘spirit’ of Christmas.

Christmas, the time where we fish out the phrase ‘peace on earth and goodwill to men’ from under the piles of stuff, and wipe the dust off it for another year. Looking around the Christmas rush, it really doesn’t seem very peaceful, and as people stress about what presents to get, I doubt there is much goodwill on their minds.

Why is it that we wait for once a year to try and think about other people, try and be kind and the whole peace and goodwill stuff? Shouldn’t followers of Jesus be practising this all year round? Why do people make excuses that nice things should be done in the 'spirit' of Christmas? Are people so selfish that they think about themselves the other 364 days of the year? I guess at least there is a day (or a brief season in the year) where people think about doing 'nice things' or at least being 'nice'.

I have decided not to have any “traditions”. I don’t send Christmas cards, don’t always give presents (except to immediate family) or things like that which are the norm. To be honest the main reason is because I procrastinate, so I never have any cards written and posted in time, or go shopping in time to beat the rush. And if I start doing that, then people expect me to do that every year and I can’t maintain a practice for very long. My ‘nice’ justification is: people expect cards and presents at Christmas. Won’t it be nice to surprise them with a card and/or a gift on a random day during the year? (OK. I haven’t put this in practice yet! But I like the theory behind it – after all God’s grace is an unexpected gift.)

Anyway, enough ranting. Joe has some great posts about Christmas which sound less cynical than mine.

The mad rush

Went to the supermarket 2 days ago. That was a mistake. The carpark was not just full, people were parking in spaces that were not officially parks. This is the rush that precedes Christmas. Its crazy. No wonder this is the most stressful time of year and this is the time that retailers love most. The amount of junk mail that has been stuffed in the letter box is phenomenal. I hate to think of the number of trees that have sacrificed themselves in vain for the sake of people getting presents they don’t need or want. Like stu, I can’t wait for Christmas to be over!

charity

What a great surprise. Walking into the office and discovering new chairs. I mean nice new computer chairs and not the dingy ones that we have been using for the past... umm... x amount of years (I don't even know how long we've had them for!). Well, I work for a Christian non-profit organisation, so we don't have a lot of money in the first place, let alone to spend it on furniture. The old chairs we had did serve its purpose - provided somewhere to sit. But weren't necessarily comfortable. And the best thing - they had been donated by Raewyn, our fantastic office secretary (part-time only too!) She donated all four of them, brought them in when the rest of us were not in the office (we have a very small office), lugged them up the stairs, and assembled them, all ready for us to sit on.

And she made some comment about charity. Is being charitable about giving away stuff that you won't use anymore but feel it a waste to chuck out? Shouldn't it be giving something that is worthy for yourself to use - something new! (I'm not saying giving away old stuff is bad. But it is common for people to give away old stuff that is often almost falling apart in the hope that someone else can salvage some use out of them, and so that they don't feel guilty about dumping it in the tip). Non-profit organisations are usual the recipients of such charity. No doubt, they are usually grateful, but don't they deserve better?

I think I will check the quality of the used items I give away from now on, so I don't 'dump' them on others (and try to give away new stuff sometimes).

In the countryside...

it isn't as quiet as I thought it would be. I'm in Havelock North for work at the moment. The silence of the night was broken by frequent mooing from the neighbour's cow. It is late morning, and I hear some sort of machinery/tractor thingy in the background, and some kind of insect noise.

I guess its a different type of noise from the city.

ho ho ho

As I lay tossing and turning in bed, my mind was churning things over. Questions like so what is Christmas all about? kept going through my head. I guess this post has the danger of sounding cynical and pessimistic, but Christmas has got to be more than running around buying presents for everyone, pine trees and sparkly tinsel, and the same ol' carols year in and year out. And so it is. It is about the Christ Child that was born to us in Bethlehem.

The second question that then ran around in my head was - so what do Christians celebrate at Christmas? A baby? OK. Jesus was not just any baby. He was God and all, but again, there's got to be more to it than the nativity scene. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with presents or colourful (but tasteful, please!) decorations, carols or the whole baby Jesus thing, but I don't want to spend this time every year reflecting on this special baby born 2000 years ago in a dinky little manger. I need much more than that. I need a reason to really celebrate from deep within.

And in the wee hours of the morning, I found a reason to celebrate. [I had spent some time last Friday studying John's prologue to his gospel (John 1:1-18). So I think my thoughts are 'tainted' by that.] I will celebrate the Incarnation. Celebrate the fact that I don't have to try hard to build a bridge across to "god". Incarnation means the Bridge has been built by "god" and I just need to find it (which is a lot easier than having to build it myself). Incarnation means I get to connect with God in a deeply personal and meaningful way. But Incarnation also means, I go and do likewise. I need to be a link that others can connect with, so that they can Connect with the Bridge and thus find a reason to celebrate the Incarnation.

All because of you
All because of you
All because of you
I am... I am

Argh!! The birds are chirping!

No, I don't have anything against birds chirping. In fact I do think it's quite nice thing to wake up to. But when you lie in bed tossing and turning, tossing and turning and then the birds start chirping - you know you're in trouble! It's time to wake up soon, but I still haven't fallen asleep yet! Argh! Going to be in a rather zombie like state today as I got about 2-3 hours sleep last night. *sigh* Who was the idiot that invented insomnia?

At last!!!

Finally bought How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb today. Been holding out since it was release about a month ago. Saw it was on special at the Warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain!). As a result, I managed to save $8 on the CD+DVD copy (I know, I'm a cheapo!) But the satisfaction of saving some dosh and finally getting to listen to it was just, well... damn satisfying. But I didn't do justice to the album as it played kinda softly in the background (didn't want to wake my flatmate who was napping). So tomorrow I may come back from work a little early and turn up the volume and enjoy it in full surround sound. No doubt you'll be hearing more about it in the days to come.

The loverliest motion picture of them all

My Fair Lady

Watched My Fair Lady again a couple of nights ago. The last time I watched was at least more then 10 years ago. I enjoyed it then, and enjoyed it even more now. Its actually funnier when you watch it as a adult - as you get all the little nuances. I really got into the movie and the best bit is, by now the songs are all familiar so you end up singing along.

Recommend a revisit if you haven't seen it for a long time!

on a sombre note

Our heart finds peace in knowing that death is not the end.
Death opens the way towards a life where God welcomes us to himself for ever.

Today's daily meditation from the Taizé site.

My 'niece' was born 2 days ago. It should be a happy occasion. It is... but I am reminded. She will never meet her father, except through her mother's and grandparents' (and aunts' and uncles') memories, photos, stories. Life is never fair. Even as we celebrate a birth, we mourn a death.

My cousin passed away about 3 months ago after losing a battle with cancer. I gained some insight in my own faith, his faith and a different picture of God. Once again, I need a sense of a God whose sense of justice and grace I cannot humanly comprehend, to help me have hope that this little girl is born into a place where death can be turned into a celebration of life.

A warm and sincere welcome to the world Kymberli.

Its that time of year again

www.buynothingchristmas.org

Yup. The Christmas madness is upon us. Tons of junkmail in the letterboxes with sales items, the same ol' Christmas songs playing in the malls, giant fake pine tress, and tinsle tinsle everywhere. And not to forget - Christmas shopping. No, this isn't just me being cynical about it all, but it makes a bloody stressful time. This year I’ve debated whether to join the throngs of shoppers. Maybe I won’t. Not really because I want to make a stand for something. One reason is – I am broke. And the other is I simply don’t like shopping with crowds. Where do all these people come from?? Guess I have to come up with creative alternatives!

Have more faith!

How many times have I heard that phrase? Not only been said to me but heard of it been said to others. Ironically sometimes said to those who have ‘more faith’ than the person who has said it. Was kinda listening to a series on 1 Peter at our recent Student Leadership Conference. And during one of the talks, PW talked about how we need to say to people to have hope rather than to have more faith. Telling people to have more faith doesn’t really help someone or encourage them. Instead it usually is more discouraging. Rather to have hope – hope in something (or someone) that is bigger than us is more reassuring.

I’ll have to agree with that. Telling someone to have more faith can be quite condescending. And in someways judgemental. It implies that the person doesn’t have enough faith (what is enough faith anyway, and how much more faith to have?) To have hope is to look beyond yourself, and placing trust in God. And in my understanding, hope doesn’t everything has to turn out sweet and dandy. But more that there will be an end to the situation or circumstance. Don’t really know how to explain it, but it has more depth than telling someone to have more faith. And definitely more uplifting. After all, that is what I think following Jesus is about. Not about having more faith. But in the hope that lies before us. What is the nature of this hope? Not sure. But that is part of the mystery of Jesus.

What is mission?

Mission. This word has been resounding in my head for a while now. Partly because that is the buzz word in TSCF at the moment. Mission seems to be the hip word that has replaced evangelism. Actually, I’m not exactly sure how mission actually differs from evangelism, except that in some cases proclamation takes a back seat to establishing a relationship with the person (a.k.a. friendship evangelism).

Technical definitions aside, what do I define as mission? Firstly, I seek to define mission because it is a part of my job: I am involved in training students for mission and I am involved in student mission (the likes of the Discovering Jesus group). Secondly, because it is part of my work, I want it to be authentic. I don’t want to go and do ‘mission’ because that is what I have to do under a generic understanding of the term. Having my own definition of mission will help me make it authentic in practice.

To me, mission is to bring wholeness. From the gospels I understand that Jesus sought to bring wholeness in all areas of life. For example in relationship (between God and us, and us with each other), to broken areas in our lives by offering forgiveness, in the way we live by teaching us a new value system and convictions to live by, etc. And because I seek to follow Jesus, I will also emulate (in my limited capacity) his mission – to bring wholeness. So it is not just proclaiming the gospel story, but to be an instrument to bring wholeness to their lives.




For starters I will try not to offer people any pat answers, formulas or human traditions, rules and ‘packages’, but somehow seek to share with them the holistic gospel where Jesus has made a way to live life more abundantly (I’m still working out what this means). In some ways, it is much easier to just tell people the gospel story and to concentrate only on their ‘walk with Christ’, but I think mission calls me to more than that. And bringing wholeness is a concept that sits with me more comfortably then simply converting people to Jesus. How does this pan out practically? I guess I will find out over the coming months.

Shaken, not stirred

Landing in Wellington is always a bumpy ride. Today was no exception. But glad to arrive intact (including my lunch!). At least it was sunny and reasonably warm. Always nice to came back to some kind of warmth!

I am writing this post on my laptop. Ahh… so nice to have it back (and in great working order again). Unfortunately, this may mean more late nights tapping away on it. I have BBC World running in the background to keep up with the US presidential results. I think I have had their voting system explained to me more than once in the past, but I still don’t understand it. Shallow, I know, but I am regretting the fact that I did not suggest some sort of bet in the office regarding the results. We would all have benefited from the chocolate biscuits the loser would have to buy. Anyway, I still find it mind boggling how one person (and his administration) could have so much influence all over the world. Bush seems to be leading at the moment. If he does win, I hope he spends the next 4 years cleaning up his mess!

Ode to Hitachi

I really need to remember to back up important stuff on my hard drive. My dear friend Blayne pronounced it irreversably dead after a few attempts to resuscitate it. It was a very painful moment and I was very grateful for the support I received at then. Not so much for the data I had (I can't remember what crap I have on my laptop) but more because of the pictures I have lost. I have quite a number of pictures and video clips of priceless moments on there which is now gone forever (like of Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings parade) *sigh*.

But I am really, really grateful to get the use of my laptop back. I have missed it a lot the last 3-4 weeks (I think I have an unhealthy attachement to it!). And as Elizabeth so kindly reminded me, I just need to constantly "Back up!!" When was the last time you did a backup??

an Intrepid move

I was watching an episode of Intrepid Journeys where Tim Shadbolt, illustrious mayor of Invercargill, visited Sabah. I enjoy travel shows (I love the thought of travelling and adventures involved), and the style of this particular show interests me. All is fine, until he makes some sort of comment about it being surprisingly comfortable despite being in a third world country (perhaps he was surprised at the use of vehicles and modern buildings in the town he was visiting). Since I grew up in Malaysia, it was needless to say I felt somewhat taken aback by that comment. The rest of his commentary/comments about life and his observations in Sabah were quite tolerable. Then at the end of the show, he talk about being surprised that people were happy in their lives and contented with their relationships despite an obvious lack of wealth (and “stuff”). Seems that our mayor here might equate happiness and contentment in life with progress and wealth.

I’m no rocket scientist, but I thought it was commonly known that wealth and material possessions never equated to happiness and contentment in life. For many people in Asia, community is a part of life, and relationships within that community definitely added to happiness. Thus it was so in the kampungs (villages) he visited. They have enough to live by, and community living was part and parcel of life and added value to life (city folk have a lot to learn from that!). So it was no wonder that they were happy and contented. So, I would contend that ignorance (though may be bliss at times) can be a cause of much trouble. And reading the History of New Zealand at the moment, I am getting a good insight into the kinds of trouble ignorance can bring.

I now live in a first world country, but I don’t think I am any happier than before. No doubt I have more opportunities (maybe because of less competition due to the much lesser population in NZ) but my sense of happiness and contentment in life is still marked by the same things – relationships with friends and family (community). My decision to stay in NZ isn’t due to the thrill of being in a first world country, but more to do with the laid back way of life that I have adopted (and various other related factors). After all, I think life in New Zealand can be considered more ‘hazardous’ to my life – I now face the threat of earthquakes, volcanoes and a thinner ozone layer.

Maybe I was a cat?

On Himalaya on Tues night, Michael Palin went to the place in India where the Dalai Lama and his followers are living in exile. He went to consult one of their astro*something-or-rather guy to get a map of his past life (and future life) by supplying his birth date and various details about his birth. He was told that he was an elephant in his past life and will be reincarnated as a daughter of a rich family in the West. Michael had obvious problems with his reading, esp. the part about him being an elephant. But the Tibetan Buddhists really believe it and it was quite amusing to see Michael's doubt and questions about reincarnation amidst that. They also believe that you can change what you will be reincarnation as through your deeds in this current life (karma). And obviously, you can't change your last life because it has already happened.

It so happened that the Discovery Channel was showing a doco about past-life memories. They would show someone's account of a past-life memory and then some experts (scientists) to talk about it from a scientific point of view. It was quite well done, although it didn't really answer all my questions about it. It is quite baffling when a 4-year-old Indian kid can tell stories and events of a past life. How could he know about fighting in a war and 'recognise' this couple he has never met and address them as "mother" and "father" (they were supposedly his parents in his previous life). The scientific explanation: it seems that those with more of some sort of electrical impulses in the brain seem to have a heightened sense of imagination, and thus more able to come up with stories about "past-life memories". Also, there seems to be a surprisingly small probability of having a combination of 2-3 seeming facts from a past-life memory and these facts matching up with an actual person.

What about those who can give some quite accurate historical details from their past life e.g. the description of certains buildings or places? (and these buildings or places presently don't like how they used to). The experts explained that we store information in our brain that we are not aware of (from reading, hearing information or watching something). At times e.g. under hypnosis (a number of these past-life memories come up under hypnosis) this stored information will be accessed. The experts believe these memories are all imagined. Although there may be bits of factual information, but the memory as a whole is a figment of the imagination.

The scientists could give some evidence or studies they have conducted or some plausible physiologocal/phycological explanation to disprove these past-life memories, but to me there were still little gaps in their explanations. They did answer most of my questions, but not enough as it still remains somewhat of a mystery to me. I don't believe in reincarnation because I find it not logical or plausible. What little I understand about science doesn't convince me it can happen. Also, it doesn't fall in line with what I understand about theology and humans. But, I haven't found a concrete explanation to totally purge it from the "mysteries" box. So, maybe there is another explanation outside of science (maybe it is supernatural?)... and if there is, what could it be?

money, money, money

Money is one of those touchy topics. On Friday night I was helping a friend raise money for a mission trip to Thailand where she will be involved in doing some charity work in some villages and also helping out with Christian efforts. I think if people have their perspectives right, a short mission trip will do them lots of good. No doubt they will have a chance to dabble in some charity work and thus help others, but I think it does more for the person themselves by opening their eyes to a different reality that other people live in.

Anyway... I was going around getting people to pledge money to her. I know its wrong to judge and all and its hard to know peoples' motives but, I think the way people react when approached for money can be telling of their attitude towards money and/or mission). Everyone was familiar with my friend and thus the cause for collecting money, but still I got a few seemingly grudging givers. Maybe I jump to conclusions to quickly, and maybe because exams are looming it was more reactionary to stress than anything else. I don't know.

I am thankful for all who gave, but I am convinced that we can be better givers. We always think we need more money (for ourselves) than we actually do. I don't people think about sacrifice when giving anymore. Many give out of abundance (which is not a bad thing at all), but at times, can we give up certain luxuries - shopping or eating out or movies - in order to give more money to a cause? Just because we don't have enough money to buy stuff that we want, does that make us poor? (That was how I used to think as a student! And I think many students still think like that.) But I had a decent place to live in, three decent meals a day plus snacks, and enough money for entertainment every week. But because I couldn't buy certain items and didn't have a lot of money I thought myself poor. Money will be an issue that will continue to plague me and I am sure many other people. I hope that my eyes will be open enough to the realities of the world around me so I can have a good perspective on being poor, and remember the values that Jesus taught - that there are other people or causes that are more important than me or indulging my luxuries.

saying "the prayer"

Yesterday we had our last study in DJ (the post entitled "DJ" explains what this is). We looked at the resurrection from John's account (in chapter 20). We pitched the resurrection as important because it was a unique point of differentiation between Jesus and other religious figures esp. those who claim to be god. Being the last study, one of our aims was to find out where the seekers were at. And someone wondered if they were at the point to pray "the prayer". I find this an interesting concept. Does someone become a Christian because they have prayed "the prayer"? I remember doubting my own 'salvation' after my prayer because I didn't really understand it all. So is there some kind of line that is crossed from unbeliever to believer? And the way to cross that line is to say "the prayer"? I guess the question that then begs to be asked is 'is there such a line to be crossed?'

I see faith as a journey and there are landmarks in that journey. Choosing to believe in Jesus is one such landmark. Some people would distinguish landmarks through various ways. A prayer can be a way to acknowledge that landmark but I think it has been hailed too much as the point of conversion. I think the more important thing is a conscious decision and an understanding of what it means to have made the choice to become a follower of Jesus. Maybe it would be more significant if the person were to be asked as to how they would like to acknowledge their choice of following Jesus. As individuals, people may want to express it differently - by declaring it to others if it happens in a public meeting, sharing a meal with significant people to commemorate the decision, writing a song, painting a picture etc. By enforcing "the prayer" norm, we are taking away the person's creative individuality which is God-given and enforcing a practice that is human formed. It is high time we put many practices into question, and ponder where they originated from.

the place of the Word

We were talking about missions today and how the use of the Bible fits in to it. I guess a person's opinion about that depends on the importance they place on the Bible in their Christian worldview. I use the Bible as a basis of evangelistic Bible study, particularly the gospels, because Christianity is centred about the person of Jesus. And it is the gospels that we meet Jesus through the eyes of those who lived around his time. This gives the seeker the opportunity to learn more about Jesus from the very same text that Christians use to learn more about Jesus. Also, the Bible gives the reader a chance to form their own opinions about Jesus. No doubt a pre-written Bible study nudges people to look at the text in certain ways, but it still somewhat open to the reader's interpretation. A formulated approach (e.g. black book or Alpha), starts off by giving the recipient/reader someone's interpretation of Jesus' story. These are effective and I am sure they have their place, just not my preferred choice. I lean towards using the Bible (or the gospels) as a platform to discover Jesus because it allows the reader a chance to understand the text (and thus, Jesus) on their own time and also the chance to ask questions that arise from it.

churchless faith

I can't seem to find a lot of resources on the Web on post-church or churchless faith or even blogs for that matter. They all seem to point to Alan's book (which happens to have the same title) which I am reading at the moment. There's a lot of stuff and blogs on emergent church - which is resources and discussions on how to do church in a post modern setting and mission and evagelism in a post modern world. I am wondering whether post-church would be part of this emergent phenomena. Fascinating stuff this post-church thing. It is a concept that would have been very hard for me to understand not very long ago. But it is, no doubt, something that the Christian community and the church itself needs to look at.

after Friday

The discussion on suicide and euthanasia was just great. Everyone was honest about their viewpoints on it or their questions about it and accepted what others had to say even if it conflicted with theirs. Definitely a stimulating discussion and we all learnt much from it and from each other.

The talk after that wasn't that great. I think I didn't bring it to a proper close. Life after uni is such a huge topic and I really struggled to prepare it and to pinpoint what were the important points to highlight. Just hope that it was of some help to those who listened. Had a couple of really good and contructive comments on it which will hekp mould the next one (whenever that will be). Was completely shattered after that (not surprisingly) and famished. One more formal meeting to go and then its exams. Will probably spend that time preparing for SLC.

unusually early morning

Had to get up early this morning for the Capital City Prayer Breakfast. Soooo not my thing. It was kinda good - about 350 in attendance - but a good use of the thing is migling and networking which wasn't what I was up to doing at 7.30am! I was there to support a TSCF student who was asked to do one of the 2 public prayers. She crafted a stellar prayer - one of the best I've heard and one which I could even whoheartedly say 'Amen' to! The short talk was good too. Unfortunately I think I was a bit too sleepy to really take anything into short or long term memory. In short it was about human rights but from a Biblical point of view. He said something about rights not appearing in the Bible yet it was full of preserving life and dignity and celebrating humanness. Instead of rights, there was a notion of duty. And "rights" as such didn't exist purely for the individual as such, but exists in the context of community. Made me reflect on the "love mercy, act justly and walk humbly with your God" verse. I think I need to 'meditate' more on that verse.

a hot topic?

On Friday, I’ll be joining the girls’ cell group to talk about suicide and euthanasia. Hard topic for students to deal with but I’m glad they are talking about it so it doesn’t become a scary thing or a “taboo”. Be interesting to hear what they’ll have to say though. If any readers would like to comment, please feel free. We were given 4 questions as a guide:

• Why is it an issue?
• How do people in general think and feel about it?
• How would you deal with it if it happens to or around you?
• What does the scripture say about it?

Scripture is actually silent about it (unless you count the stuff on murder which some people equate suicide and euthanasia to). I think its not right (I’m don't mean its wrong, though). Perhaps better phrased as not a wise choice. Also, I think they are the same thing (except assisted euthanasia - you can’t have assisted suicide). Euthanasia is putting an end, through death, to an intensely painful physical condition which causes deep suffering, and suicide is putting an end, also through death, to an intensely painful mental condition which causes deep suffering. It is not right because a purposeful choice to end a life always leaves a huge black hole behind. Yet it is not wrong because who would blame them for choosing to end their life in the midst of intense suffering that never seems to end.

From a ‘Christian’ point of view, judging the person for the choice is wrong. Jesus always went to the crux of the matter, so there we must go too. Empathising (or trying to) with their pain - be it mental or physical is a start. Allow them to voice it, even though they may repeat it over and over again. But that is the reality they face – pain and suffering – and they can’t see a way out that is life-giving at that point in time. Empathise and try to realistically optimistic. Don’t promise the world if you can’t deliver it. Sometimes I wonder if the negativity that people in general (especially Christians) feel towards it has a negative impact on those on the brink of it.

DJ

Stands for Discovering Jesus - the discussion group for those who want to know more about Jesus (funnily enough!). This week we looked at the passage on Nicodemus and what it means to be born again. Brilliant discussion. Found out that people use that passage to support re-incarnation! Had to try and explain that was not what Jesus meant and that we are 'born from above' in the this one and only lifetime. One of the girls there was lapping it all in and seemed quite excited about this concept after coming to understand it better. Quite refreshing to see such enthusiasm whenlearning about the life that Jesus offers. She was immediately concerned for all the people in China (her homeland) who don't have the chance to hear about Jesus and thus not have the chance to be born again (and that topic of course is another theological mystery). We have one more week of DJ (exams coming up soon). Its been a brilliant group. Not sure how to end it but hope we end it well since the students have learnt so much about Jesus and the life he offers. So do keep that in mind (and prayer) and let me kow if you have suggestions (besides going out for a meal - we've got that sussed!)