Sabbatical 2016

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Announcing the arrival of Elijah Rayru Divyanathan!

With praise and thanksgiving to our Lord the God, we would like to share with you the wonderful news that Elijah Rayru Divyanathan was born at 10.53am this morning (4 weeks early) at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney!



Elijah is doing well after having some initial breathing difficulties and his very beautiful and brave mum is also doing splendidly. For those who like numbers, Elijah was 2.725kg and 47cm long. He's got a full head of hair, very long fingers, toes and feet and looks remarkably like his big brother Ethan when he was born!

As you might know, Elijah (which means "the Lord is my God") was a great prophet in the Old Testament. As the biblical Elijah was a little bit of a fire-starter, our prayer is that our little Elijah will be a 'fire-starter' of his own as he grows up and proclaims to one and all that there is no other name under heaven by which mankind can be saved except that of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Rayru is the name of Elijah's great great grandfather (ie. Denesh's great grandfather).

April/May 2007 Prayer Letter

Greetings from Down Under!

First things first – massive apologies for our long ‘radio silence’! We realize that it’s been nine months since our last prayer letter – which is really too long! As you know, we usually have a Christmas Prayer Letter but we were so busy in the lead up to my 2^nd year exams last Oct/Nov and then busy with our move & time in Singapore for three months over Dec-Feb that time just whizzed by! Sorry again!

2006 ended well for all of us. Denesh enjoyed revising for his exams and particularly found it more enriching to study the New Testament in Greek. Deborah was glad that her first trimester for Baby No.2 finally passed – it was a very tiring trimester with lots of evening sickness, cravings etc. Ethan had a blast flying on a plane back to Singapore, chatted with everyone sitting around us and stayed up throughout the eight hour flight!

Summer in Singapore

Summer was spent back in Singapore and it was a mixed time. We had a great time catching up with family, friends and ministry partners. It was especially good for Ethan to have time with his grandparents and uncles – he misses them all heaps but prays for them regularly, which is great. It was also good to see many of our Christian friends persevering in the gospel in Singapore even though good bible teaching continues to be a rare commodity. Though most have plugged on, it has also been disheartening to chat to some friends who have admitted to becoming more “nominal” and “cold” because they have been starved of the word of God.

Part of our aim back home was to see what doors might be open for us to minister in when we return from college and this led us to visit lots of different churches. Unfortunately, apart from one or two churches, we were saddened to see that most churches in Singapore continued to have very superficial Bible teaching. In one ‘evangelical’ church, no effort was even made to preach from the Bible! The dire situation back home has reminded us of the work that needs to be done in Singapore and the need to keep proclaiming the word and training more workers for his harvest field. Please join us in prayer for Christians to keep persevering and for clarity in the gospel.

Back to Sydney

Since coming back to Sydney in late Feb, we have been flat out with adjusting to life back here and Denesh’s third year at college. Baby No.2 is due on May 29 so we have been occupied with trying to reorganize our flat to make room for the little fella. We are now at the end of our Easter break and have been very thankful to have had five days away together as a family at a farm in beautiful Jervis Bay (2.5 hours south of Sydney). It has been a very refreshing and timely break and the three of us are much more connected and rested now – all ready for the new baby to drive us to despair!

Here’s a personal update from each of us:

Denesh

Third year has been the most enjoyable so far at Moore. Relationships are more settled and the college routine is entrenched into my bloodstream. However, the main highlight has been the lectures this year. In particular, Pauline Theology with Peter O’Brien and Bill Salier, Ethics with Brian Rosner and 1 Corinthians (also with Brian) have been outstanding. I just completed an essay on the atonement looking specifically at definite atonement and Amyraldianism (ask me if you want to know what this means!) and was greatly edified through it!

We have moved to a new church – Drummoyne Presbyterian. Although we miss St Barnabas and our friends there, the saints at Drummoyne have been very friendly and we have been extremely encouraged by the transparency, humility and godliness of the staff and elders.

The main sadness this year has been the death of my grandmother in Singapore earlier this month. She was very old and sickly and so her passing was expected. However, I don’t know if she ever made a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ despite attempts to bring her to church and share the gospel with her. Do pray for God’s mercy on her.

Deborah

There has been so much to be thankful for this year, and we are constantly being reminded of how God has provided for us. A highlight for this year has been the privilege of being in a home group with Denesh. I have really enjoyed getting to know new friends in this group, appreciated their friendship and openness (our first bible study together was on lust in Matt 5 and we managed to share heaps of prayer points!). Of course, the chance to learn alongside Denesh and discuss what we’ve learnt together is a big thing (we often take turns at hearing sermons on Sundays because of Ethan, so discussions on what we’ve learnt together are limited). I am thankful for faithful friends who have generously offered to babysit every week.

God has also answered prayer in guiding me in training Ethan in godliness and in knowing God in a way that is suitable for his age. This has been wonderful in itself, seeing Ethan respond to God’s word (his eagerness to read the Bible and knowledge of some of the stories), but there is also the wonderful privilege in seeing him grow in self-control and concern for others. I have also been personally challenged to look at my own sinfulness more (how can I expect Ethan to learn to say sorry when I don’t) and to depend on God.

Prayer time with two college wives on Monday, women’s bible study on Friday and art class on Wednesday have been weekly features. There have also been more ministry opportunities from home and greater joy in personal Bible reading and prayer. I have just started this week an evening class at college, and am enjoying the challenge to dig deeper on the topic of worship.

Ethan

I continue to bubble with energy and have recently added jumping and out-of-tune singing to my repertoire of ‘party tricks’. I am looking forward to the arrival of my baby brother although I’m concerned that papa and mama want him to share the room with me, share my toys, share my old clothes…as you can tell, I’m having issues with sharing, or so I’m told! We just had five great days at a farm which I enjoyed very much. I made friends with a Labrador twice my size called Milo and he even swam beside us when we went canoeing in the river. How cool is that? (Mom has put photos on my blog www.div-shoots.blogspot.com)

Looking Ahead

We are expecting Baby No. 2 to arrive around May 29, which is both exciting and stressful. We feel more confident to handle a baby the second time round but we are sure that it will be tough to juggle two, at least in the initial months. Do pray for us in this and for the safety of Debs and the little man in the delivery.

Denesh will be on College Mission at St Andrews Cathedral from April 29 to May 6. He will be preaching twice and will also be involved in lots of street evangelism and dialogue meetings etc. Do pray that God will call people back to himself during this mission in the various places where college students will be sent.

This will be our final year at Moore College as we have made a decision to head to the USA for Denesh to do a Masters of Theology. The main reason for this is that it will provide Denesh with more theological training and open doors in Singapore (including lecturing at a theological college which could be very strategic in the years ahead, if God leads us that way). In fact, we just received our acceptance letter from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). As you can imagine, there will be substantial financial costs related to studying at TEDS and we will be raising support for that soon. If you would like to be updated on that, please do let us know.

Once again, thank you for reading and praying for us. Do keep us updated about your news!

In Christ,

Denesh, Deborah & Ethan

Prayer Points

Denesh § Perseverance and strength in my studies as it can be very hard work at times § That my quiet time will feed me spiritually and I will resist the temptation to make it academic (oriented towards what I need to read for college) § Upcoming evangelistic talks at College Mission and also church sermon on May 13 § Relationship with non-Christian friend who I read the Bible with. Wisdom as I continue to try to help him understand the gospel and commit to Christ § My own family still does not know Christ. Please continue to pray for the Lord’s mercy on them and for their openness to the gospel

Deborah § Thanksgiving for the smooth transition back to Sydney and for providing so many opportunities for learning (home group, bible study and evening class), serving (family and friends in community) and training (Ethan). For the balance there is currently. § Pray for me to support Denesh as he works at extra load this term in order to be more flexible when baby arrives. In particular for energy levels now that I’m a lot heavier and less mobile. § Pray that I will be godly and wise in decisions and adjustments when the baby arrives.

Ethan § Continued enjoyment with reading the Bible, praying and singing. Pray that I will understand more and more what God has done for me through Jesus § Help in my struggle with sharing § That I will be a loving, giving and helpful big brother

Contact us at:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Mailing Address: 1 King Street, Newtown, NSW 2042, Australia

Mother's Prayer Request

Hello there!
Just thought I'd share a prayer request. Have just been struck at how it is such a joy to be mothering Ethan, to be his interpreter of his world and to care and provide for him. Today, Denesh and I were remarking at how Ethan has so easily picked up his affinity for Thomas the Tank Engine (a cartoon, toy), and we started talking about how to help him think and want to know God.

Tonight, as I put Ethan to bed and sang him his usual lulaby 'Jesus loves you', he started asking me 'why'. He has been asking 'why' lots. But never about his lulaby and never so constantly. Was a little lost for words at how to explain to him why Jesus loves him in a concise way. Told him it's because Jesus made him, Jesus died on the cross for him. He went on to ask if Jesus loved the animals like the giraffe and elephant too (as he knows Jesus made them). Isn't it lovely how his mind makes those connections.

So my request? Please pray that I'll be able to explain to him our Lord and God more. That God will use this great opportunity of curiousity from my child to spur me on to guide him in God's ways, to grow in them myself and that God's spirit will be our teacher.

Holiday after Hard Work

We survived Denesh's doctrine essay! That was one big essay that took weeks and lots of late nights for Denesh. As a reward- holiday in Canberra with my parents.

I really enjoyed being a tourist! Loved taking in all the sights, from the War Memorial, Parliament House (old and new), Floraide and Cockington Green. Of course, Ethan also got to pose outside parliament house.

Winter Carnival

Moore College: Backward, Conservative & Stuck in the Past?
Well...maybe when it comes to the clothes they make you wear!

How do you like our dress-up shot from the Gold Rush days of the past?

White Winter!

We were just commenting on how beautifully sunny it was, and how it didn't feel like winter at all! Then before we knew it, it started to hail! We were with SG and her kiddies, so we RAN to the balcony and just watched the noisy ice hit earth. So exciting!

We then brought it from the street into our home. The kids loved playing with the ice balls! We felt like we were playing in God's playground!

Hail storm!