Waiting on the Lord

Vital Statistics for October

- Total attendance per week: 8, 5, 3, 3

- Miracles reported per week: 5, 3, 4, 3

- Tree Planting in Jesus name! 40 people

Tree Planting was Fantastic!

Over 30 kids came into the park and enjoyed drawing on the tree guards, making signs, using the drill to dig holes, hammering in the stakes and using the staple gun to secure the tree guards. The atmosphere was beautiful. The boys particularly enjoyed this challenging teamwork. The parents got busy helping too.  We had a BBQ and gave the children certificates and a baby wattle tree for their gardens. I explained each tree represents a miracle of healing, restoration and love. We now have 50 trees in Rosewall Reserve.

Waiting on the Lord

We must go with the God ideas, not just the good ideas. So, although the tree planting is a great way to build trusting, positive relationships with the locals for evangelism,  I'm sensing the Lord is asking us to pause on the Tree Planting for a while and focus on working with other local pastors on something for Christmas. Working in unity focusing on loving the locals and doing something lovely for Christmas. Perhaps a BBQ, games for the kids, carols and presents for the kids.

One on One Ministry

The main focus of ministry now is praying for our neighbours. We are seeing a lot of sweet little miracles. It seems God is using the opportunity of prayer for unbelievers to show His love; a cool model of evangelism!

Financial Counselling

We are trialling linking a volunteer accountant keen on helping the poor with a single mum who's trying to manage her money. This could become a useful way of loving our neighbours. Financial mismanagement is rife here. Praise God this has opened up so quickly!

Community Engagement!

Vital Statistics for September
- Total attendance per week: 2, 3, 2, 5, 3
- Miracles reported per week: 0, 3, 0, 2, 3
- Corio Evangelism Forum: 16 people
- Tree Planting in Jesus Name! 40 people

Corio Evangelism Forum
Sixteen of us enjoyed lunch together in our home and discussed the best ways we can work with God as He brings people to know Jesus. Building trusting, caring relationships then bringing an anointed word of life seems to be best. Then we need to work to disciple new believers.

I spoke on radio 96Three about evangelism and two people came because of the interview. Unfortunately the interview has not been posted on their website yet, so I can't send it to you. It went better than expected, though :)

Tree Planting in Rosewall Reserve
Wow! What a marvellous event! The Corio Prayer Team came and prayer-walked the park the day before, then provided, cooked and served all the sausages!

About 40 people attended and families enjoyed working together decorating their tree-guards. The artwork is amazing. We planted 40 trees and hammered in the pretty guards and watered-in the baby trees.

Each child got a certificate and I explained that the trees were planted to honour God's miracles in Little Miracles Home Group. We have had 40 miracles since we started so we planted 40 trees. A video of this is on our Facebook page and lots of pics.

The purpose of the event was to build trusting and relevant relationships with the local community in Jesus Name and we did it! Several pastors came too!

Next Steps
The next Tree Planting is scheduled for 20 October and we're thinking of a Christmas event, something small and intimate in our home.

House of Good Hope

Cross in our back yard

Getting our home ready for revival!
We have a gate opening onto the park to welcome people and a new sign saying "House of Good Hope". We also have a rugged cross in our back yard where we hope to host worship and teaching ministries.

You Can Help by Praying and/or Funding!

BSB:  013259
ACC: 248826009

Please pray for the gift of obedience for us as leaders so we walk in God's ways, not just 'good ways'.

Strategic Evangelism

Vital Statistics for August
- Total attendance per week: 3, 2, 2, 6
- Miracles reported per week: 4, 2, 1, 5
- Corio Evangelism Forum
- Tree Planting for Jesus
- Moved to Home

Corio Evangelism Forum
Next Sunday we're hosting the Corio Evangelism Forum, in our home. Telling people about God's love can be terribly challenging. So we're hoping to unite and encourage those called to evangelise our area and focus us on God's strategies. I've recorded a radio interview on 96three about this which will play this Wednesday morning and I'll send you the link next month.

Council gives us 40 Manna Gums

Community Tree Planting
Our tree planting is starting on Thursday 26 September in Rosewall Reserve as a school-holiday program for kids. A growing group of locals is keen to spread the word that trees are good and to protect our new trees from vandalism. The council has given us 40 Manna gums, tree guards and stakes. Next month I'll show you the photos. So far 37 miracles have been reported at LMHG, so let's plant 37 trees to thank Jesus!

Neighbours & Family Helping Clear our Block

From Community Centre 
to our Home
We recently stopped meeting at Rosewall Community Centre and shifted the Home Group to our Home. We felt God's call to do this and it seems many locals don't really like the community centre. Plus we save about $70 per week. The group is very quiet at the moment so we are concentrating on inviting our neighbours over for dinner and praying with them as appropriate, building relationship and trust and quietly releasing the supernatural power of God into their lives. We're in no hurry.

Revival
Many Christian leaders here are believing for revival! It's an exciting time to join them in Corio!

Now we really get started!

Vital Statistics for July
- Total attendance per week: 5, 3, 5, 2
- Miracles reported per week: 5, 2, 1, 1
- Leaders moved in
- Council gives blessing to plant trees
- New Flyer made ready for distribution

New Flyer
One of our group suggested we make a flyer which attacks ICE addiction so we've made a new flyer with money given by a supporter! It will be distributed in August.

Leaders Move In
So we've moved into our new home in Corio and we're loving it. We love the new challenge of getting to know everyone in our neighbourhood and fixing up our house and garden. Its stronger when the leaders are on the ground.

Commissioning and Dedication

The first ever meeting in our new home was a powerful prayer meeting, a dedication and cleansing of our home and a commissioning and anointing for us. Hosted by June and John Bennet, the leaders of the Corio Prayer Team, the meeting had 15 people including three local pastors. Isaiah 61: 1- 4 stood out among the prophecies. One of the pastors identified us as a prophetic vanguard.

Help on the Ground
Recently God blessed us with the opportunity to move two tall boy drawers to a young family in need. 

1 Miracle = 1 Tree

We believe God has called us to honour His miraculous works in people's lives by planting a tree for each miracle reported at LMHG. This means work. I met with council representatives from Parks and Gardens and Community and Recreation at Rosewall Reserve. They are happy to authorise us to run revegetation in Rosewall Reserve. They have cleared some grassland which they will mulch for us and they will provide trees. Our job is to get the community on side so the locals don't vandalise the tress. There is a meeting about this at our home next week. We expect this project will take years to fully materialise. Combatting violent attitudes to the park will take time and commitment and the miraculous work of God. More next month. 

Council prepares for planting.

To contribute financially:
BSB: 013 259
ACC: 2488 26009

Thank You!

We're Moving In!

Vital Statistics for June

June/July Flyer

- Total attendance per week: 4, 4, 3, 3, 3
- Miracles reported per week: 2, 1, 1, 3, 3
- Ad published in 'Northerly Aspects' 11,000 readership
- New Flyer made and distributed: 250

We're Moving Into Corio!
Since last post, we have sold our home in Belmont and bought a new home in Corio, right near the Rosewall Neighbourhood Centre! This is in response to 'God's call on our lives' to love this particular part of Corio. Settlement is in late July when we'll actually move! All this activity is why we haven't delivered many flyers this month!

Shall we make it actually 'Home-Based'?
We currently run Little Miracles Home Group from Rosewall Neighbourhood Centre, but we're thinking that when we move to into the neighbourhood we might run this from our home. Obviously we'd be more 'vulnerable' but it would also be more 'homey'. Please pray for God's wisdom for us as we make this decision :)

Our flashing lights and the smashed door

Here is a picture of the flashing lights we use on Sunday nights to show people something fun is happening. You can see that the door of the centre had been kicked in just prior! It's a sobering reminder of where we're working!

Sharing the Story
My sense of calling is to share this model of 'a military hospital' with the church more widely: a focus on seeking and saving the lost and then training and empowering for leadership and service. As such I have been invited to share this vision at Geelong Vineyard Church on Sunday 14 July. Please pray for me for this and for the development of this side of the ministry long term :)

Success so far
We are wrapt with the ministry so far. We love hosting Little Miracles Home Group, making and distributing flyers and creating a culture that focuses on reaching the unchurched and developing leaders.

The Miracles are Little :)
The 10 miracles reported in June are personal, things like children suddenly changing for the better, us moving into the area, and new freedom from past sources of control. We're still trying to get the council to allow us to plant a bush or tree for every miracle - a monthly planting. So far we have to plant 6 from May and 10 from June!

Oh Yeah! It's a Hobby not a Business!
Obeying Jesus is about loving others: "Love your neighbour as yourself". Loving is giving freely. 'Christian love' is even sacrificial. Therefore we should stop seeing 'Ministry' as a way to make money. This gets us into all sorts of trouble. Outsiders see the 'church' as greedy because it brings money into conversations about love. It is a profound confusion. Therefore let's stop seeing ministry as way to make money and see it as a hobby which we do out of love and for the very excitement of doing it and thus we're prepared to spend money to make it happen. Like building a lovely garden!

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Thank you - Lots of LOVE!

One month old and loving it!

Guerilla Marketing

Vital statistics for May:
  - Total attendance per week: 9, 3, 5, 2
  - Flyers distributed: 3000
  - Flyers taped to bus stops: 20
  - Invited to a local leaders prayer group and a local leaders' meeting.

Key Performance Indicators

KPIs are a great way to focus a team. The church is a delicate marriage between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. As such we need KPIs which reflect God's values otherwise, we might drift off and only count money and attendance. Once you see this, you need to ask how can we quantify the coming of the kingdom of God? One simple KPI for us therefore is miracles. How many miracles have people reported at our group? So far, we have 6! Miracles here mean what people see as God's action. Prayers answered etc.

Notice what Matters

God has prompted us to plant a tree or a plant for every miracle that is reported at LMHG. Therefore we're liaising with the council to get permission to have a monthly tree planting event in Rosewall Reserve - Please pray for this. This will be a lasting memorial of thanks to God for His work in our lives, a bit like the Israelites building a monument of rocks to remember God's action as they crossed the Jordan river in Joshua 4. 

What is winning today?

Ad in Northerly Aspects in June

We see the win for us is to stay strong and keep offering hospitality, dinner, warmth, friendship, discussion, teaching and prayer every Sunday. Also the win is to keep promoting LMHG. This means trying new ways of reaching out to our neighbourhood. Churches don't seem to do this very well but we are committed to it. We have distributed 3000 flyers, and taped them to bus stops. We have the ad above going into a local community publication in June. We will soon make a new flyer and we're keen to keep talking about the reality of Jesus and the work He does in our lives in our advertising.

The Financials

The 'Business Model' of our plan

Christine and I fund this ministry from the 10% tithe from our salaries as teachers. The weekly costs are roughly as follows:

Rental of hall   $60

Food                 $20

Publicity          $20

Total costs      $100 

Our weekly tithe is a bit over this, so we're right. Once the group grows, we expect people will contribute some money as thank offerings to God. There is also an opportunity for our supporters to give to help us grow God's kingdom. We have received financial gifts from some lovely friends already and we're very grateful for their generous support. 

How you can help:

Our May Flyer

1. Pray for God's kingdom to be established in people's lives in Corio

2. Join our team to help love the locals

3. Contribute financially. We want to make make a new flyer and helping us with $100 for that publishing adventure for June would be AMAZING. Flyers with more words work better but they cost more. 

Angus & Christine Giles BSB: 013259  ACC: 248826009     

Refer a friend

If you like what we're doing and want to share it with a friend, subscribe to our blog using the "Follow by email" section top right and email the link to a friend. 

Let's stay in touch! I'll write again at the end of June :)

Background thinking

Our second night we had 9 people. Six came from flyers delivered in Corio and there were three 

Whiteboard from 2nd Night

team. 1500 flyers have been distributed around Rosewall. We had dinner, great fellowship, discussion and some powerful prophetic prayer. Praise God!

Some of the thinking behind this
The purpose of this blog post is to give some of the thinking behind it all.

What about a team?
We have decided to begin without a team and build up a team as we go. The beauty of this method is that we begin by building culture which flows from Christine and I rather than theory which then needs to be converted into culture. I think gathering a team around a theoretical vision runs the risk of drifting away from theory, whereas starting with culture means we then use theory to explain the cultural choices we make in practice. Also, as my ideas are quite radical, explaining the theory of what I’m trying to do often meets with blank stares. This way means that people can see what we’re doing and get involved rather than try to explain it to them at the outset.

Although we are part of Geelong Vineyard Church, we haven’t been sent officially at this stage. We do have a strong prayer team supporting us, 15 people from round the world who believe in us as a ministry couple.

Called by God?
Yes. It’s a faith thing. I’d say 50% the mysterious and miraculous work of God and 50% our own preferences are behind setting up LMHG. The God part has been a consistent quiet affirmation in my personal prayer life. Seeing doors close which I thought should open and all the doors open for this ministry. A massive amount of prophecy over me about beginning a fruitful ministry from the Vineyard Church crew. However, when I talk with my church friends about my vision, many frown and don’t seem to ‘get it’. Personally, I think the mission we have is closely aligned to Jesus’ teaching and mission. Also, we offer what churches are not offering: friendship, discipling, food and prayer. Christine and I want to commit to an area and build. Putting all this together it seems to be our calling. By faith we are called by God to build Little Miracles Home Group in Corio. 

Making a new way

Christine and I have run several successful ministries, groups and even a cafe businesses together. We have moved on from these to create LMHG believing it to be a more fruitful pursuit for the kingdom of God so that we can bear fruit, 30, 60, 100 times what was sown, becoming 'trees of righteousness,' Isaiah 61: 3.