Safe in the Arms of Jesus

A few weeks ago, I asked for prayer for my Great Aunt Lydia who had disappeared from the Old People's Home which she lived in. Sadly, we heard this week that her body had been found in Nicosia. There is no indication of any foul play and it seems she probably went for a walk and never returned. The Cyprus Mail report about Lydia Gulesserian can be found here.

It's obviously a sad time for her family, Lenia, Arda & Yola, particularly as all 3 are based in the USA. They are making preparations for her funeral.

At times like this, it is good to be reminded of the confidence we have that a person like Aunty Lydia who has put their trust in Jesus is now "Safe in the Arms of Jesus".

An old hymn puts it well:

Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations;
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears!

Jesus, my heart’s dear Refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er;
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.

Aunty Lydia was trusting in the Rock of Ages and in the midst of sadness, that gives us great comfort.

When A Man Loves A Woman

Apologies if this post is overly-sentimental, mushy & gushy – I’m not normally that way inclined, but I think from time to time, it’s appropriate. I’ve used the blog to report on different aspects of life & the work here in NZ and for a while, have had this post in mind – today is the day to put pen to paper, or rather fingers to the keyboard.

It’s very easy to forget some of the less obvious details and implications in the work I am involved in. Sure, for many people the move to NZ is a glamorous one with opportunities aplenty. Whenever I travel around the country, I am reminded of the sheer beauty & splendour and the immense privilege that I have of living and working here. As I’ve blogged and talked with friends in the UK (& beyond), I think many have become aware of some of the harder parts of ministry here; the increasing secularisation of NZ and the lack of confidence in the Gospel. Today, I don’t wish to focus on any of those, and rather, I’m going to share a vital part of the work, which perhaps because it’s so blindingly obvious, gets overlooked. In fact, rather than talking of “it”, let’s get more specific – I’m talking of my wife, Jen – over here, she gets referred to as “Jenni” (simply because otherwise, people think I’m saying “Jane”.)

In recent days, I’ve been reminded of the sacrifices Jen has made to be with me our here in NZ – the cost of ministry. At times, I’m away a few days at a time, very often, it’s just longer working hours when I’m out at a meeting – of course, I try to limit the effect it has on our marriage, but there is a cost. TSCF & Nigel in particular, have been great in trying to ensure our ministry is not detrimental to our marriage, as well. But even though we try our best, Jen bears the brunt of the irregular working hours.

As a girl from Norn Iron (N.Ireland for those without a N.Irish accent), her family are close – until I came on the scene, her extended family lived within 8 miles of each other. Being married to me has added an extra 11,992 miles to that! Of course, I miss my family as well, but it’s much harder for a family who are very close to each other. (Just for the record, the Carswells are close, but not geographically – my closest family member geographically is Emma, who is in Buenos Aires!) Again, the sacrifice of ministry is great, particularly for Jen & particularly as we await the arrival of our first child.

Now of course, we don’t begrudge the calling God has given us – Jesus did say “’Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” It’s still something I’m learning in the smaller, day to day areas of life, but something that is a reality when it comes to the cost of ministry.

This morning, as I drove in to campus, I had various songs playing on shuffle on my Ipod. It’s always fun wondering what will be next and ensures you don’t only listen to your favourite song. Amongst other songs, today’s playlist included Percy Sledge’s classic ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’. At first, I was tempted to skip to the next song, but for some reason, I decided to listen and enjoy it. What great words! I think Sledge’s words are almost an ad-libbing paraphrase of what is said in Proverbs 18:22

“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord.”

There are many reasons why I love Jen and am glad we are married to each other – I think they’re probably best saved for her to hear, rather than saying them all here! However, I wanted to say publically that I love Jen very much & am so glad we’re married together. I thank God for her and would value your prayers for her in the midst of all the sacrifices she’s made and all the changes that lie ahead for her.

Urgent Prayer News - Lydia Gulesserian

I've said that I would blog about one or two events that have happened in recent weeks, but due to a variety of circumstances haven't had chance. However, the following post is a much more urgent piece of news from the Carswell family & we would value your prayers.

My grandma Carswell (my dad's mum) is from an interesting family background - her mother was Greek & her father Armenian (a race, not theological position!). Along with her family, she was a refugee from the Turkish massacre of the Armenians in the Armenian Genocide. As a result, many Armenians were scattered worldwide, commonly described as the Armenian diaspora.

Our family are no exception - we have relatives throughout the world & my sister Emma & myself have continued the spread worldwide!

This week, we have receieved news that one of Grandma Carswell's sisters, Lydia Gulesserian who lives in Cyprus, has gone missing. She disappeared from the old people's home where she was living at 9am on Weds 6th May & despite a few reported sightings, has not been found. The story of her disappearnce can be found on the Cyprus Mail website. Aunty Lydia (my Great Aunt) is aged 86, speaks Armenian, Greek, Turkish & English. 2 of her daughters, Lenia & Arta are currently in Cyprus, although they live in the USA.

As a family, we would value your prayers for her safety & that she would be found soon. Please pray for her close family, particularly my Grandma & her sister Aunty Jane, along with Aunty Lydia's daughter's, Lenia & Arta as they are dealing with her disappearance. It's a difficult situation, but one that others go through in various parts of the world on a daily basis. We are thankful that even in the worst situations, we can "cast our cares on Him, knowing that He cares for us."

So, what did you do this week?

I don't know what your working week entails, but for me, one of the regular activities is reading through books with students/Minterns/staff and chewing over what we've read together. Above are the six books I'm currently reading through with others. They're in no particular order, though for different reasons, I'm enjoying them all. I had a good friend ask me "Are you reading any good books at the moment?" - Good question - I'd love to hear what you're reading at the mo.

Also, below is a book I saw on sale yesterday in an Auckland bookshop (Dymocks) - Ollie Balch is my brother-in-law, married to Emma. My copy of the book arrived last week & I will read it soon - you can buy a copy at all good bookshops, and a reduced rate, at a highly recommended webstore, here.

Watch this space for a new book review feature which will become part of this blog in the near future.

All in a Wordle

I'm not sure if you've seen the Wordle idea before, but basically, it takes a load of words & scrambles them into an ordered and coloured picture containing each of the words used. I've seen a few friends toy with it on their websites, but resisted the urge myself. However, the urge to try it got the better of me.

So, here's the Wordle of my blog -

I quite like it. It sums up much of who I am & what I'm about. I'd have preferred "Jesus" to be a bit bigger in the Wordle, but I'm glad His Name comes with the word "share" above it! Other than that, I like that Easter is fairly central, that students feature quite significantly & NZ features there. All in all, I think it captures some of who I am & what I am about.

Whilst doing this Wordle, I also thought it'd be interesting to Wordle the passage I was going to be preaching on today - Titus 2:11-14. I'm not sure it's something I would necessarily to use in a sermon, but I like some of what it has done with this passage.

I think it does capture the essence of what this passage is all about with 3 of the biggest words in the Wordle - God, revealed & people. Titus 2:11-14 is all about God revealed to people in the midst of the mess & confusion of some of the other words contained in the Wordle. It's about His grace on show. Probably the only thing I would change is that grace would be bigger, but I like it.

I trust my sermon this evening was a little less scrambled up than this Wordle & that as I preached, God was revealed to people.