MattGlover.com

Looking back over the last couple of months, there hasn’t been a lot of action happening here. There’s some good reasons for that…or maybe they’re just excuses. Who knows?!

1. With a friend of mine, I’ve working on starting a charity to offer IT training to African refugees in our community. The last eighteen months has seen something like 10 000 people from Africa relocated to Melbourne, over half of which have come to Whitehorse. There have been all sorts of issues associate with this, and we’re only now beginning to appreciate now how we can work together to address them.

While the charity will aim to equip African young people to make a living for themsleves and their famlies, linking it in with the church community will mean that we can also model how to live in the AUstralian culture and walk with them as they make the transition. Hopefully, they will teach us more about life and faith too.

It’s far more complicated than I imagined and we’re still working through all the issue at the moment. For instance, do we set up our own computer lab and source the training ourselves or do we simply offer a scholarship for people to go to a TAFE? These are the sorts of things we need to wade through at the moment.

2. I’ve had a slight change of job. I’ve pulled back on my time at Mitcham to take on a day a week at the Baptist Union of Victoria. Basically I’m to support youth pastors and youth leaders around the State and walk with them as they do what they do. I’m also to develop a Statewide internship that will hopefully rasie new leadership for youth ministry in Victoria that will last long term. Even today, we still have youth pastors burning out after 18 months. This is not acceptable.

I have a few ideas why, and hopefully the internship will address them. but time will tell. Anyway, the new role means I’m away from the computer a lot of the time hence not much blogging action.

Congratulations to the General for being accepted as the Pastor for High School Ministries at our church. He’ll be taking over the stuff I’m giving up and will do a much better job than me anyway. I’m looking forward to what God does through him with our young people.

3. My own study timetable has changed a bit and the timetable is a pain in the butt. I’m left with a significant chunk in the middle of my day when I’m stuck at college with no comuter. I’ve been geting a lot of sermon prep done and that sort of thing, but there are others things I would like to be doing too, but can’t. If you know of anyway I can get a good, cheap laptop - let me know!

4. Life. It’s just a bit crazy. Time is precious, and sometimes too precious to waste infront of a screen. I have lots of things I want to reflect on, but there will be time for that in due course. Right now there are more important things like building sand castles, racing cars, throwing balls, wrestling matches and farting in the bath to occupy my time. I LOVE being a Dad!

So, forgive me for neglecting this part of my world for the last few months. Regular writing will resume now. Or maybe it won’t. Whatever…