FOCUS NEWS in 1997.

(through the eyes of Jonathon's rambling descriptors and experiences)

BACK TO FOCUS JOONDALUP PAGE........Kickstart, Bustrip photos...

GoTO Jon's MYC page

January


The AFES bustrip to Melbourne in January was an experience of a lifetime for those who went! Email Chris Roberts if you would like to see the photos on chris@1funplace.com or goto this photo page to see a sample... Chris is at Mt Lawley and Churchlands campuses

February


The AFES KICKSTART camp at Eagles Nest in February was awesome! this year, now may God really use this group for His Kingdom in a big way! Goto the FOCUS Photo page to view some photos from here.

The AFES (Australian fellowship of evangelical students) 1st years Barbeque on the 19th February went well, apart from kicking the football into Shenton Park lake and various other happenings.

24/02/97 A planning meeting for FOCUS Joondalup took place with Tim Thorburn, Ian McIvor, Matthew S., Michael S., Tara B.,Troy J.,Tim J.,Tanya M.,David D., and Jonathon P. present, on Monday in the cafeteria.

27/02/97 The first FOCUS-Joondalup Bible study for 1997 took place in the Tower room, on Joshua 1:1-18 with 3 people attending. It was about being strong and courageous for God's purposes as leaders and followers.

March


05/03/97 On Wednesday at Joondalup (Jo.) there was a stall day, with 13 new people putting their names down to get information on FOCUS. Praise God! The photos from the Kickstart camp in February 1997 and the January Bustrip to Melbourne were there!!... Thanks to Tara and Michael who helped out. Didn't see many people from last year around though... The climbing wall nextdoor wasn't bad either, or the free food and fanta... right guys???

06/03/97 On Thursday at Jo. the four of us (including Matthew S., and Alana) looked at Colossians Chapter 1, and living in response to Christ's awesome authority and love for us.

13/03/97 At Thursdays Jo. meeting, the 4 of us (including Ian) looked at Colossians 2 in particular verse 18 and discussed many things (some which were not directly to do with the Colossians 2),with the importance of not letting subtle or obvious add-ons (traditions, peoples ideas and philosophies) infiltrate parts of our lives being a central part of the study. We decided to

change the meeting time to Wednesday at 12 noon in room 4.235.

13/03/97 An intercampus committee meeting with FOCUS Mt Lawley and Churchlands occurred.....

19/03/97 God blessed us with a new person in Jenny, on Wednesday as Ian led the four of us through Colossians 2, and also Genesis and Deuteronomy 10:17??? to understand the significance of circumcision and how Christ has made us alive (eg verse 13) and free, to live righteously through Christ!!!

22/03/97 The Focus tennis & video night took place at Bec's, went well, "goldeneye" was one of the videos watched.

26/03/97 The mormons went next door this time. Tara, Michael and me again. James 1,seeing trials as part of God making us mature, complete, and for developing perseverance... We all face temptations, troubles, But as Christians we are free, to see them as training, rather than setbacks in our life.

April


02/04/97 Noone turned up to the Wednesday group...

09/04/97 The AFES Dinner at Fast Eddys in Fremantle took place, it was very good... and very interesting...

12/04/97 An AFES prayer breakfast took place...

16/04/97 A poorly attended intercampus meeting took place...

23/04/97 Tara and Michael were there as the 2 ways to live studies kicked off.

30/04/97 After a special meeting, Tara agreed to take on the role of secretary for this semester, which was a relief, because this area, was not being looked after at all!!! I decided to continue as President for the remainder of the year, assuming there is no further interest in this position....
Tara, myself, Andrew, Jenny and later Michael did the 2nd 2 ways to live related study. It was a lively discussion, covering some good ground. Praise the Creator, for this cool time!

May


05/05/97 Rageflower! and The Silent Type played a really cool set at The Shents, with a large crowd of people enjoying this and Scott's talk. I thought The Silent Type song 'look to the skies' was quite catchy, even though though they are not a style I enjoy. I particularly enjoyed Rageflower's set, despite the slight adjustment of style and soprano vocals...Which actually turned out to add a very cool new dimension in the main, in my opinion. I must get a copy of their new CD. A good night I'll remember for some time!!!

07/05/97 I led Tara, Andrew, Jenny, and Michael through the 3rd study based on the 2 ways to live series, looking at Hebrews 9:27, and 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, covering death, judgement, and the seeding, watering aspects of evangelism, including a reminder that unity is important, and it is God's Holy Spirit which causes the growing to take place. A number of side issues such as reincarnation, and the fact that death is not just the physical end of our body, were discussed.

14/05/97 Myself, Jenny, and Michael looked at 1 Peter 3:18 briefly, and discussed a number of issues relating to God's sovereignity, and false teaching about faith, healing, trying to put God in a box, and other things...

21/05/97 Jenny, Michael, and Andrew, were there. I got there late towards the end. I assume it was a good time...

28/05/97 Andrew, myself, Jenny, and Michael were there. It was a very issues dominated session as planned. It was productive in that regard, in that we discussed things in reasonable depth, and then talked to God about them. Ian focused us on Philippians 2:9-11 and how Christ's name is above all. i.e. Jehovah/Lord/Yahweh/Adonai

June


04/06/97 Andrew, and myself were there. We failed to get started on a study, due to a long discussion starting from the genealogies in Genesis moving into life expectancy, mutations, creation/evolution, and treatment of Aboriginal people in the 1950's and now. The discussion included the idea of social darwinism, and how evolutionary philosphy may (???!) have influenced Government policy towards Aboriginal people. Jenny arrived towards the end. I was leading (after 3 hours sleep I might add), but with only myself and Andrew there initially I allowed the discussion to hijack the time. This error on my part was partly due to tiredness. An interesting discussion, but not a very productive time in some ways, in my opinion.

JULY

Mid Year Conference (5 days of action packed learning and fun!) was on July 7th-11th. Topic was Prayer. Mid year conference involved students connected with; Christian Union (UWA and Murdoch), SPECS (Curtin-Shenton Park), FOCUS (ECU), and Curtin Christian Fellowship. MYC was arguably one of the biggest and best AFES events of the year!!! It was one memorable, important, experience for me and many others, God is truly awesome, and my superlatives can't describe MYC properly you had to be there!!! ... Here is a group of MYC photo from the Curtin C.F. website; See if you can pick out the two Focus Joondalup reps

AUGUST

06/08/97 Although only minimally prepared, I led Pat and Kaye through a quick exploration of Luke 1:1-4. Okay.
13/08/97 Although I was fairly well prepared, noone turned up! So I prayed for IFES groups in Puerto Rico, and Lithuania.
20/08/97 I wasn't really prepared, noone turned up.
27/08/97 Great to see Tim G. and Pat there. John Dickson came. A signed copy of 'A Hell of a life' was sold, but due to lack of response, the event did not really happen.

September, October, November.

03/09/97 I was there, but noone else was.

September to November 1997; No regular meetings, I had to concentrate on other commitments, and little or no initiative from anyone else, although the lines of communication are open.

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