Its been a long time since I posted a reflection note like this, so decided to spend my last day here in Sydney to reflect and share my 31 days experiences internship experience here. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my church and the mission committee for the wonderful support they have given me and many others who have been praying for me in this overseas internship.
Wesley Mission Internship Reflection (22 Nov to 22 Dec 2014)
Wesley Mission Internship Reflection (22 Nov to 22 Dec 2014)
This last 4 weeks internship at Wesley Mission, Sydney has certainly been such an enriching experiencing, above & beyond my expectations of what I will take back home as I continue in this process of preparing for God’s future ministry for my life.
What made this internship so memorable was having the honour to be assigned to understudy Andy, who is the lead pastor for the extension service at the Wesley International Congregation at Ryde. He has been such an amazing pastor to the church & mentor to me as I literally shadowed him almost everywhere in his day to day ministries that a pastor face, from interaction with leaders, members, missionaries, chaplains, hospital visits, pastoral meetings and many more.
It was through such shadowing & connections with so many people all over this huge Wesley Mission of 2000 over staffs across Sydney that really broaden & deepened my perspective of what God is doing in other parts of the world besides Singapore. Wesley mission have many outreach arms from the congregational life which has many services & life groups, and they have the whole spectrum from ministry to kids, youth all the way to seniors, they even have an outreach campsite called Wesley Vision Valley, they have a ministry which foster "youth at risks" under the "Aunties & uncles" ministry, a ministry for the disabled, even accommodations for the homeless & the list goes on.
Connections with Different People
One of the great exposures here is the privilege to connect and interact with so many ministry leaders from different areas, from the Wesley International Congregation pastors, to the different missionaries & groups that Andy serve closely with from the state director of OMF, to the campus crusade staffs in Macquarie University, to the different chaplains of Wesley Mission and many more. And each time whenever i'm given the opportunity to just sit down with them, to hear the different journeys that each of this servants of God had, from their call into ministry, their passions & burdens to advance God's kingdom. Even got the chance to sit in this ecumenical oversight committee meeting where pastors from different denominations & churches came together to plan for a huge prayer movement for Australia.
What made this internship so memorable was having the honour to be assigned to understudy Andy, who is the lead pastor for the extension service at the Wesley International Congregation at Ryde. He has been such an amazing pastor to the church & mentor to me as I literally shadowed him almost everywhere in his day to day ministries that a pastor face, from interaction with leaders, members, missionaries, chaplains, hospital visits, pastoral meetings and many more.
It was through such shadowing & connections with so many people all over this huge Wesley Mission of 2000 over staffs across Sydney that really broaden & deepened my perspective of what God is doing in other parts of the world besides Singapore. Wesley mission have many outreach arms from the congregational life which has many services & life groups, and they have the whole spectrum from ministry to kids, youth all the way to seniors, they even have an outreach campsite called Wesley Vision Valley, they have a ministry which foster "youth at risks" under the "Aunties & uncles" ministry, a ministry for the disabled, even accommodations for the homeless & the list goes on.
Connections with Different People
One of the great exposures here is the privilege to connect and interact with so many ministry leaders from different areas, from the Wesley International Congregation pastors, to the different missionaries & groups that Andy serve closely with from the state director of OMF, to the campus crusade staffs in Macquarie University, to the different chaplains of Wesley Mission and many more. And each time whenever i'm given the opportunity to just sit down with them, to hear the different journeys that each of this servants of God had, from their call into ministry, their passions & burdens to advance God's kingdom. Even got the chance to sit in this ecumenical oversight committee meeting where pastors from different denominations & churches came together to plan for a huge prayer movement for Australia.
(I’m very blessed to have got to know these amazing group of pastors from the Wesley International Congregation of Wesley Mission, Sydney. Learnt so much from interacting with each of them & observing the different leadership styles, being part of their pastoral meetings & theological discussions & just being welcomed into their community)
Leadership, Mentoring, Missions & Evangelism, PreachingI also had the opportunity to observe many leadership styles throughout my 4 weeks here. And got to thank Andy for provided me this really comprehensive pointers to look out for when one facilitate a meeting or when one is part of a meeting so that we can maximise each meetings. Had many different exposures from sitting in workshops, task forces, to strategic & vision planning, pastoral meetings, and seeing the different dynamics from informal to higher level meetings with senior management of Wesley mission. What I really treasure in this internship was the many discussions we had about ministries, such as a really good mentoring/coaching model, even to the topic of the church role in supporting cross-cultural missionaries and even discussion on different preaching models.
Crisis Incident Workshop
Was also part of this very insightful "Crisis Incident workshop" for the pastors & chaplains of Wesley mission, and this was quite a timely workshop as it was just a week before the unexpected crisis at Lindt cafe in Martin street. As this incident was just a street across Wesley mission, we decided to walk to the site the next day to pay our respects & pray for the families of the victim which led us to have a divine appointment to meet the chaplain himself who was conducting the workshop for us just a week before.
(I’m very blessed to have got to know these amazing group of pastors from the Wesley International Congregation of Wesley Mission, Sydney. Learnt so much from interacting with each of them & observing the different leadership styles, being part of their pastoral meetings & theological discussions & just being welcomed into their community)
Leadership, Mentoring, Missions & Evangelism, PreachingI also had the opportunity to observe many leadership styles throughout my 4 weeks here. And got to thank Andy for provided me this really comprehensive pointers to look out for when one facilitate a meeting or when one is part of a meeting so that we can maximise each meetings. Had many different exposures from sitting in workshops, task forces, to strategic & vision planning, pastoral meetings, and seeing the different dynamics from informal to higher level meetings with senior management of Wesley mission. What I really treasure in this internship was the many discussions we had about ministries, such as a really good mentoring/coaching model, even to the topic of the church role in supporting cross-cultural missionaries and even discussion on different preaching models.
Crisis Incident Workshop
Was also part of this very insightful "Crisis Incident workshop" for the pastors & chaplains of Wesley mission, and this was quite a timely workshop as it was just a week before the unexpected crisis at Lindt cafe in Martin street. As this incident was just a street across Wesley mission, we decided to walk to the site the next day to pay our respects & pray for the families of the victim which led us to have a divine appointment to meet the chaplain himself who was conducting the workshop for us just a week before.
(Post aftermath at Martin Place)
Reflection days
Andywould provide me with questions to ponder during this reflection days as itallows me to reflect back at what God has been speaking to me in this season ofmy life and to be able to set my priorities for the New Year to come. Thisweekly reflection days has been something that I have been missing quite a bitsince I started seminary life, with the constant readings, assignments ongoingone hardly has the time to have intentional days set apart just to spent anentire day just having an open agenda before God and allowing Him to lead theconversation.
(Post aftermath at Martin Place)
Reflection days
Andywould provide me with questions to ponder during this reflection days as itallows me to reflect back at what God has been speaking to me in this season ofmy life and to be able to set my priorities for the New Year to come. Thisweekly reflection days has been something that I have been missing quite a bitsince I started seminary life, with the constant readings, assignments ongoingone hardly has the time to have intentional days set apart just to spent anentire day just having an open agenda before God and allowing Him to lead theconversation.
Christmas Hampers Deliveries!
Wesley International Congregation, at Ryde & at the City
Wesley International Congregation, at Ryde & at the City
“The Side curriculum”
There were many "side curriculumns" in this internship too. Having the privilege to stay with my godparents & their family this one month allowed me to see how good role models they are as Christian parents to their kids. Observing how they relate to one another through this past few weeks has been quite an enriching experience to see such Christ love in their family.
“The Side curriculum”
There were many "side curriculumns" in this internship too. Having the privilege to stay with my godparents & their family this one month allowed me to see how good role models they are as Christian parents to their kids. Observing how they relate to one another through this past few weeks has been quite an enriching experience to see such Christ love in their family.
Even having an amazing divine appointment & wonderful privilege to have lunch with Benny Prasard at the place I'm staying in Sydney & have him share his amazing testimony in person & for him to bless us with his amazing musical talent, & most of all how God allowed him to reach out to all 259 nations in the World in the shortest period of time to share of God's grace in his life!
Concluding Remarks
Ifthere is one biggest take away, to sum up my whole experience in thisinternship is really about being intentional about having a private prayerlife. Andy himself modeled this to me, throughout my time with him, seeing hisprayer life daily, even having a really good discussion on this topic fromCharles Spurgeon’s lecture to students on "The Private Prayer". Thischallenged me to see how important a minister private prayer life can changehis entire public ministry, which I hope to cultivate even more. To alwayspause, pray & reflect throughout the day even how busy one can be.
A special note to my supervisor
Thank you so much Andy for being such a wonderful & inspiring mentor to me in my one month internship with WIC! I'm really grateful for the time you have invested in me during this period & allowed me to assimilate to your community and to the people at Wesley mission. You have really demonstrated what life to life discipleship really is to me. Just observing your life & shadowing you in your day to day ministries. Seeing how you have been such a God fearing man after God's heart, who ensures to pause, pray & reflect intentionally so many times a day. Seeing how you have been a great influence to many people you meet along the way.
I will also remember the many insightful conversations we had especially in the car from talking about missions, evangelism, mentoring, preaching, relationships, leadership styles to so many other topics. You have definitely broaden & deepen my perspective of the role of a pastor. I'm so honoured and thankful to have this privilege to have been your understudy in this season of my life here in Sydney. You have really inspired me to become a pastor like you too.
Concluding Remarks
Ifthere is one biggest take away, to sum up my whole experience in thisinternship is really about being intentional about having a private prayerlife. Andy himself modeled this to me, throughout my time with him, seeing hisprayer life daily, even having a really good discussion on this topic fromCharles Spurgeon’s lecture to students on "The Private Prayer". Thischallenged me to see how important a minister private prayer life can changehis entire public ministry, which I hope to cultivate even more. To alwayspause, pray & reflect throughout the day even how busy one can be.
A special note to my supervisorThank you so much Andy for being such a wonderful & inspiring mentor to me in my one month internship with WIC! I'm really grateful for the time you have invested in me during this period & allowed me to assimilate to your community and to the people at Wesley mission. You have really demonstrated what life to life discipleship really is to me. Just observing your life & shadowing you in your day to day ministries. Seeing how you have been such a God fearing man after God's heart, who ensures to pause, pray & reflect intentionally so many times a day. Seeing how you have been a great influence to many people you meet along the way.I will also remember the many insightful conversations we had especially in the car from talking about missions, evangelism, mentoring, preaching, relationships, leadership styles to so many other topics. You have definitely broaden & deepen my perspective of the role of a pastor. I'm so honoured and thankful to have this privilege to have been your understudy in this season of my life here in Sydney. You have really inspired me to become a pastor like you too.
